


AKIRA: The Beginning

by M1d2umm3r2N1gh7_R3nd3zv0u2



Series: AKIRA: The Fanfiction [1]
Category: Akira - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Biker Gangs, Disturbing Themes, Drama, F/M, Graphic Violence, Manga Spoilers, Manga Storyline, Mentions of Sex, Sci-Fi, Slow Romance, Slow To Update, Supernatural Elements, Swearing, Tragedy, brief nudity, drug usage, mature - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-20
Updated: 2018-06-24
Packaged: 2018-12-17 16:05:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 24,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11855031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/M1d2umm3r2N1gh7_R3nd3zv0u2/pseuds/M1d2umm3r2N1gh7_R3nd3zv0u2
Summary: "It was just a normal day in Neo-Tokyo... Kaneda leading the gang into territory sqwabbles, living the biker gang dream. None of us knew what we were getting ourselves into, when Kaneda decided to lead us into the Old City that day. I'll start from where everything began... that very day."AKIRA is owned by Katsuhiro Otomo, you own yourselves. If you haven't read the manga, do it. You'll bless yourself.





	1. Trouble In Neo-Tokyo

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome, I got a surge of inspiration to write my own Reader-Insert fanfic while watching AKIRA. I realized that as few AKIRA fanfictions there even are, the fanfictions that follow the manga AND pair the reader with Kaneda are non-existent. Hope you enjoy it, I'm going to follow it the best I can but I may deviate to spice it up.

       Here you go again, chasing the bright light of the Neo-Tokyo scene, and racing through crowds of law-abiding citizens moving on with their mundane lives. The gang tailing the eye-catching, red sporty motorcycle that was leading the way, easily marking him the leader of the pack. That was the leader of the Capsules, Kaneda Shoutarou. Always a risk-taker, infamous skirt chaser, and dorkish rebel. Within his gang were schoolmates and his two childhood friends, Shima Tetsuo and yourself— (Lastname) (Firstname). He drove you nuts… But, you couldn’t lie that your time as the Capsules was a wild and fucking fun run. As you speed through Neo-Tokyo, Kaneda’s voice snapped you out of your daydreaming, “Come on, you guys! We’re gonna take Highway 26 all the way over to the Old City— if you think you can keep up!”

       You rolled your visor-hidden eyes, easing your boot-clad foot just a little more on the gas pedal, causing your bike to sail smoothly past the rest of the gang and just beside Kaneda’s stylish sports bike. Your sleek (favorite color) bike that you designed and built yourself was littered with various band stickers, and you could easily match Kaneda’s skills of fighting and maneuvering your bike. However, you knew you were beat when it came to a competition of speed. Your bike could only stay with him when he was going just a little less that three-quarters of his bike’s top speed, after that you would start losing him. You gave Kaneda a gleeful smile, shouting in reply, “Just lead the way, Kaneda. We’ll be tailing your ass the whole way!”

       He smirked with a thumbs up, revving his bike and shooting off ahead. You could only huff out a playful sigh and smile before calling back to the rest of the gang, “C’mon, slowpokes! At your pace we’ll have to go home before the fun’s even begun!” Cue the joking cries of protest and a few bets before everyone kicked their bikes to the highest speeds they could reach. As you drove down Highway 26, the neon brightness of Neo-Tokyo’s nightlife faded away, the roads and cityscape that passed by rapidly deteriorating in quality and life. Thinking of all the people that used to live here and died thirty-eight years ago to the “new bomb” that set off, sent shivers dancing over your skin as you felt a sense of sadness.  
       It was a long stretch of straight roads until you all reached an old military checkpoint, which they had to move some rubble and trash out of the way into a makeshift ramp. When some of the members finished tearing at the barrier and making the ramp, they called out the all-clear. Kaneda in his typical Kaneda-style, just had to be flashy and blast his way over the ramp and onto the other side into the blackness of the unlit Old City. Just as he made it over he hollered, “Oi, Tetsuo, (Name)! Let’s show these guys how it’s done!”

       Not missing a beat, you and Tetsuo shared a glance before rushing forward on your bikes in a small race. As the two of you drew near, Tetsuo hesitated, allowing you the upper hand. You flew off the ramp and raced to catch up close to Kaneda’s light trail, Tetsuo and his baby blue and pale yellow bike flying not far behind with the rest of the gang taking turns jumping the hurdle. As Tetsuo reached a talkative distance, taking position at Kaneda’s right, he yelled, “Trouble with you, Kaneda… Is that you take too many chances.”  
At this, someone in the back gave an un-needed cheer of agreement. 

“Trouble with you is that you wanna live forever!” Kaneda teased back, leaning out of his seat a little to flash Tetsuo the grin on his face.

       They continued racing forward, Tetsuo and yourself falling back to let your leader do his job and have some time to himself. The two of you teased each other while you peacefully sailed down the Old City road, Tetsuo was usually less tense in your presence or the presence of Kaneda. Though, because the boys had petty word fights over their pride, Tetsuo appreciated the laid back aura around you. After a bit, Kaneda cursed and out up the signal to stop, hooking his bike around so that he could stop and gaze over the edge where the road drops off. You and Tetsuo pulled up shortly, watching as Kaneda sighed and pulled off his helmet. He turned to you both with a smirk, watching as the both of you pulled off your own helmets and the rest of his gang arrive, before announcing, “Looks like that’s it, guys. We’ve reached the end of the line.”

Watching the rest of the crew settle down and take in the scene, many voices piped up:  
“Aw, we were just getting into it— Why’d we stop?”  
“ ‘Cause we hit a dead end. And I do mean _dead_.”

“This is the heart of all the destruction. We’re right at the place where the _bomb_ fell.” 

       If entertaining the reverie of those who lived and died in the destruction of the Old City depressed and disturbed you earlier, then being at the very heart of the event slumped your shoulders and dampened the happy thrill you had been experiencing on the ride to the Old City.  You felt that you would feel lost if you weren’t reminded of your company by their rumbling engines purring in their spots. You could hear more murmuring in the group, “Man, it gives me the creeps thinking of all the people who _died_ here.”

“We must’ve made a wrong turn. Let’s go back and try again,” Called someone beside you and Kaneda.

Kaneda chuckled quietly before sneering at his gang member, “What’s the big hurry? You scared of the _dark_?”

       With all of the gang member’s bike lights facing forward, it made Kaneda’s red Capsules jacket and matching red biker pants more noticeable. Yamagata and one of the other riders stood before the ledge, Yamagata leaning over to look at the sheer drop. The rider beside him spoke up, casually making small conversation, “There’ll be some changes made around here pretty soon. I hear this is where they want to hold next year’s _Olympics_.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Yamagata scoffs, and you made a small noise of amusement at this information. The guy standing with Yamagata, only smiles and looks behind him towards Tetsuo, “That’s what I heard… Tell ‘em, Tetsuo.”

“Me…?” Tetsuo asks, distractedly, as if he is unsure if they meant someone else before following up on the news, “It’s the truth, Kaneda. They already started work on it. A bunch of old buildings and stuff have been torn down and everything.”

After a few more minutes of taking in the scenery, Yamagata approaches Kaneda with an expression of confusion, “What are we hanging around this dump for anyway?” 

“No reason,” He replied shortly, picking up his helmet and giving everyone the heads-up, “Come on! We’re outta here!”

      Everyone cheered and got ready to set out, revving their engines in anticipation while waiting for others to get ready. Before Kaneda got his helmet on, he noticed you standing at the edge of the road, gazing out into the giant crater as the wind swept through your (hair length, hair color) hair. He sits his helmet on the seat of his bike, waltzing over towards you carefully, and set a hand on your shoulder. You flinched, turning your head to meet Kaneda’s onyx eyes, and he offers you a small, playful smile, “We’re about to head out, and I’m sure you don’t want to be left behind.”  
      You blink a bit before a smile pulls across your face and you shake your head, “Thanks, I appreciate it,” you pause as you make your way to your (favorite color) bike, noticing Tetsuo missing. For some reason, you feel a heavy sense of dread wash over you at this observation. You definitely weren’t over-protective of Tetsuo, at least you didn't think so, but he usually stuck around just long enough for everyone to start heading out, “Uh, Kaneda…? Where’s Tetsuo?”

      Kaneda only shrugs as he settles into his bike and starts sliding his helmet on once again, “Fuck if I know, (Y/n). He’s probably already on his way back, probably to get some with Kaori.” At that you blanched and hoped Tetsuo would treat Kaori with more respect than that, you slid your helmet on and felt a huge grin slide over your features. You roar your bike to life, and just as you reach the other side of the gang members you challenge them, “Last one to Harukiya has to pick up the bill!”  
      You laugh as you hear the grunts of surprise and a few cries of despair and frustration as you speed away, knowing full-well that Kaneda was going to race everyone there and probably win again anyways. After a moment you can already see Kaneda catching up to you, and you know all you can do is surrender your crown of first place to him as he passes you by. It doesn’t take that long for you both to catch up to Tetsuo, whom still had a sizable lead, and was now picking on Kaneda’s ego by saying “Now you’ll have to follow me, Kaneda.” As we continued twisting and driving through the Old City, Kaneda was letting Tetsuo eat up the fact that he was in the lead. However as you watched Tetsuo, you could only feel that pit of unease knaw hungrily inside, and kicked your speed up so you were riding on Kaneda’s left. It wasn’t long before Tetsuo started panicking and yelling for someone in front of him to move out of his way before it was too late. You couldn’t help but feel as though something was off about the whole thing. Who the fuck would be standing in the middle of an Old City highway not even _close_ to the entrance of Neo-Tokyo?

       Everything slowed down, however, when you watched Tetsuo’s bike blow up in front of you. Quickly hitting the brakes, you raced over to Tetsuo’s side with Kaneda hot on your heels, both of you screaming his name in concern. Although, once Kai, Yamagata, and yourself reached Tetsuo’s side and tried to assist him, Kaneda made a bee-line towards some brat that was standing in the road ahead. Presumably, he was the reason why Tetsuo crashed. Looking at Tetsuo’s now battered form, with wounds oozing blood, you felt a rage build up in yourself. You stood up and marched to Kaneda’s side, preparing some colorful words to say to the retarded assbag that stood in the middle of an abandoned highway, when you noticed something peculiar about the person that caused Tetsuo to get injured. You glanced at Kaneda and you could easily read from his jaw-dropped expression that he was just as utterly flabbergasted at the sight before you.

       Before you was a child, who looked somewhere from six to ten years old, but was wrinkly as a raisin, and had hair as white as snow. The child’s skin was a gross, almost translucent green. The child’s gaze darted from you, to Yamagata and Kai as Yamagata muttered about Tetsuo’s condition, and then returned his gaze to you before he vanished like he was never there to begin with. At this, Kaneda let out a startled grunt, eyes dancing between your reaction and the spot where the kid had just been standing.   
“(Name)! did you see that?!” You gave him a long pause, the fury vanishing along with the source.  
“... How much do you wanna bet that we just got _visited_ by an alien?”

Kaneda gave you a dirty look, “Now’s not the time to make _wisecracks_ , (Name).”

      You rolled your eyes, and returned your attention of Yamagata as he yelled that Tetsuo desperately needed medical attention and admitted into a hospital… Which anyone would think with how banged up Tetsuo was. Suddenly, headlights blinded us from our left, showing a patrol car. More murmuring rose from the guys, bouncing between speculation of whether they were cops or military to if they could help Tetsuo or get help for us. They rolled to a stop just before the large, roaring fire and parked their patrol car. One guy hopping out of the car and radioing to their base or something, “Nope. There was no sign of… It was just a bunch of kids. There was some kind of accident. Yes, sir.”  
Just as they were heading out, you walked up to them hesitantly and called out, “Um… Sir? Excuse me, but—” 

“You shouldn’t have come here. This is a restricted area,” The man spat out.

You swallowed thickly, unable to force the words out of your mouth, “Uh… Um… Yeah, but…”  
      The man, still strict and expressionless, turned away and sat himself inside the vehicle, closing the door as he barked the order to move out, you felt your gut flip and called out again, “But, Sir—!”

"An ambulance is on it’s way. Just sit tight,” The man interrupted you again, only pausing to adjust himself, “When the police get here, tell them how it happened.”

And with that, the two men drove off, leaving you to scoff and grumble, “But… Aren’t you guys the police?”

 


	2. Just A Couple of Troublemakers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *PREVIOUSLY*
> 
>     (Name), Kaneda, Tetsuo, & gang were chasing the Neo-Tokyo night. Bike engines roaring as loud as can be, as they sailed down into the Old City where the Tokyo Olympic site was to be built. All that remained was a deep, desolate crater. A horrible, solemn reminder of the mysterious tragedy that happened so many years ago. On the ride back to Harukiya, the gang’s hangout spot, Tetsuo raced ahead of the duo who lagged behind at the crater. Unfortunately, though Tetsuo had gotten ahead, he met an unexpected fate. He crashed in a horrible explosion, due to a mysterious kid that was wandering the old Highway 26. As everyone gathered around the crumpled, injured body of Tetsuo Shima; (Name) and Kaneda watched as he disappeared into the night as if he were air. Soon enough, police arrived on the scene, though suspiciously did not help them immediately.  
> “When the police get here, tell them what happened,” They ordered.
> 
>     However the teens were not comforted, as another blanket of confusion fell onto their bewildered conscious. The unsettled question hung in the air as the strange vehicle drove away.
> 
>  
> 
> **“But… Aren’t you guys the police?”**

       The next day, you all were the gossip of your school. Tetsuo was at least spared the embarrassment, seeing as he was admitted to a hospital-- which ever one that was. All seven of you were lined up in the Principal’s Office; you and Kaneda on the far right, Kaisuke and another member on the far left. You were wearing thigh-length black shorts, a (favorite color) sleeveless, loose turtleneck, a black velvet collar necklace, a pair of black and (favorite color) striped thigh high socks, and a pair of (favorite color) high top converse. You had also pulled your (hair length, color hair) into a messy (hairstyle) that somehow was still stylish enough. Kaneda stood beside you in a black and red striped t-shirt with a button-up collar, a white overshirt, a pair of jeans, and a pair of roughed up sneakers.  
       “You young men are, of course, only fifteen years old, but you can still be tried in adult court…,” The Principal began, “If you are twice convicted of even minor offenses, you are sent here… Because you have shown yourselves, unwilling-- or unable to fit in with normal students in a normal environment.”

       You suppressed a yawn, the tears still managing to spring to the corners of your eyes, as you barely listened to the Principal as he droned on about the boys being respectable citizens of the country. Though, as you sneakily glanced at the boys, it was definitely going in one ear and out the other. You didn’t know why you were called here with them, probably because you hang around with them everyday at school; you had good grades, barely cause trouble unless for justice and the good of everyone, and you’re just a quiet, friendly person in general. However, they didn’t know how free and wild you were at night when you roamed the streets with Kaneda. So you stood there, daydreaming as the Principal and Vice Principal talked their ears off. You were snapped out of it when the Vice Principal yelled at the top of his lungs, “Are you listening to me?!?”

“Nope, not me,” Kaneda quipped.  
“I listened to half of it,” Yamagata hummed.  
“I am!” The member next to Kai replied.  
“I heard it, but didn’t get it…,” Kai answered honestly. 

       You wanted to slap your hand to your head as you listened to the six boys dig their own grave. Did they want to get their lights punched out by Mr. Takaba? The Vice Principal sneered, “You boys are scum. You’ll always be scum.” You felt your fists clench at your sides at the insults, however, you refused to let the agitation cross your features as you stared heavily at the Principal and Vice Principal. You twitched slightly when you felt a hand sneak over to your tightly closed one, holding it as if to let you know that you don’t need to be angry. Unwillingly, you allowed yourself to relax under the touch, and let out a quiet sigh. You gave Kaneda’s hang a reassuring squeeze that you were fine, before pulling your hand away to hold them behind your back.  
“Well, if we can’t get through to you, perhaps we should call Mr. Takaba, the gym teacher.”  
“That’s gonna be fun…,” You muttered under your breath. 

       All seven of you were escorted to the gymnasium, where the Vice Principal dumped you in the short wait for Mr. Takaba. The doors opened after a few moments, and you were lined up as you were in the Principal's office, as Mr. Takaba sauntered into the room. He cracked his knuckles against his open palm, brandishing a sick, sneer of pleasure as he glanced at all of you. His eyes stopped on you, where his smile faltered, “(Last name), you can step aside. You’re only here to drag these punk-asses to the infirmary after their punishment.”  
        You shook your head and stepped away, knowing as much as you wanted to, you couldn’t sock the teacher for every time he got to administer “punishment.” You bit your tongue as you watched him ready his fist, starting with Kaisuke, and making his way down the line. When he got to Kaneda, he goaded, “Always glad to administer a little _physical_ education,” then proceeded to hook him right in the jaw. The force of the blow was enough to snap his head to the side and fall against the already beaten Yamagata, who did nothing to catch and support your friend and leader. You felt your body move automatically, catching Kaneda just before he kissed the floor with dead weight, and tossed an arm around your shoulder to hold him up. He looked heavily dazed, disoriented, and probably had a deafening ringing in his ears from the blow. You sighed a shaky breath as he punched the lights out of the last member, spouting stupid shit like “behavior mod.”

        Mr. Takaba smiled at his handiwork, almost giving you a look of disgust as you supported Kaneda who seemed to have recovered enough to give Mr. Takaba a weak glare of his own, “Okay, fall in!!”

       You and the boys all lined up once more, Kaneda removing his arm from your neck deciding to only grip your shoulder as a mild support. Everyone but yourself sported a large, swollen welt on their cheeks, cut lips, or missing teeth. Mr. Takaba threw his hands on his hips, a fake smiling expression plastered on his ugly mug, “That’s it for today. Got anything to say?”

“Thank you very much, sir!” We all chimed, albeit forced, as we bowed formally-- if only to really sell the image that they understood the “lesson.” You had almost forgot how flamboyant Mr. Takaba “Jaw” was until he flipped his hair and reminded you of his offer for more pummeling, as if you were masochists… As you all climbed up the grandstands to reach the doors to the school hall, the boys let their teenage angst get the better of them, shouting a variety of tasteful insults at Mr. Takaba:  
“Hey, Mister Jaw! _Bite me_!”  
“Go to Hell!”  
“We won’t forget this!” Yamagata cried, pointing at Mr. Jaw.  
“Scumbag!” Kai added.  
“Watch your butt, Jawhead,” Kaneda challenged, his voice booming across the gymnasium, “You’re gonna get yours!”

       The group trudged through the halls, you merely followed behind the boys, hands laced behind your head as your sneakers tapped against the tiled flooring. As you walked, Kaneda began rambling about how the gang couldn’t get rounded up and tried at court because the group hadn’t “done anything they could take us to court for” and not to worry about it. You only let out a small snort, a noise meaning that you know that’s a lie. You passed by a classroom on the way down the hall, hearing the sounds of some asshole complaining about a girl _existing_ in the classroom, then asking if he could take her to bed. You zoned back into your own group’s activities, when Kaneda spoke up again, “See you guys at nine, at Harukiya.”

    “Don’t forget, Kaneda-- We still have to find out what hospital they have Tetsuo cooped up at,” You reminded, knowing that Kaneda will forget anyway if any semi-attractive girl crossed his path, you watched as Kaneda began to walk towards the hallway on the right. He waved off your concern with a curt “okay” and disappeared down the hall. Thinking about what was down that hall brought you a bitter realization, Kaneda was going to that whore of a assistant student nurse. He always got those over-the-counter drugs from her by using her, you never took them, instead you made a stash of fake capsules-- you called them placebos-- for yourself that were filled with some sugar. You sighed, and continuing to trek down the halls with the guys, deciding to chat up Kaisuke. He was one of your favorite boys in the groups, as he was kinda soft hearted, and a bit of a comedic sweetheart. But, _boy_ did he fight savagely in the bike gang scuffles. Always reaffirmed your respect in him. As you all wandered through the poor excuse of a school, you could hear all of the pitiful and angry fighting of bullies picking on the weak or gang members complaining about drugs wearing off. You sighed once more, unknowingly catching Kai’s attention, as you mumbled to yourself, “Saturated with rage and anxiety… Is this all we have to look forward to in our insignificant lives?”

 

x~[A K I R A]~x

**_Meanwhile, in downtown Neo-Tokyo…_ **

       She was getting bored of pretending to window shop, waiting for one of her partners to seek her out in this crowd of innocent bystanders. People passed her by as if she were non-existent, Her beige coat and red scarf keeping her comfortable in the slight chill, as the breeze lightly played with her bobbed brown hair. Soon, one of her partners casually wander over, leaning against the stone wall beside the window she was peeking in. He starts to speak but found it too loud for their private conversation and hushed him immediately with a soft shush, he takes a moment, whispering, “Where are you meeting Ryu?”

“Tonight at nine, at Harukiya. It’s off the Eastern Express Highway in the Seventeenth District,” She answered blandly. Before sticking her hands in her coat pockets and making her way out of the crowd, she gave him a slight smile.

 

x~[A K I R A]~x

       Now, you felt silly, when you walked into Harukiya and discovered you were the first one there. You were in your shiny, skin-tight (favorite color) one-piece jumpsuit that you wore with black combat boots and your (hair length, hair color) in a (tied hairstyle). You had been the first one to arrive at 8:30, Kaisuke coming in not long after with Yamagata, which at least made you feel less lonely. Harukiya was pretty steady with the normal crowd, except one guy sitting by himself at one of the diner tables. You brushed it off though, he could just be any other sod looking for a night of getting tipsy or looking to get laid. The inside was rustic and the owner tried his best to keep it somewhat presentable; the dim lighting was provided by multiple neon beer signs and the 80’s CD jukebox that sat against the middle of the wall across from the bar. The music from the jukebox was soft as it played some old bluegrass tune, and you found yourself softly humming to the tune as you sipped at your Coke~Cola. As the clock ticked on, people came and went, Kaisuke and Yamagata chatting between themselves and occasionally inviting you to join the conversation, and you had moved to the barstools so that you wouldn’t have to keep getting up to order new Cokes. Soon enough, it was five minutes before nine, and almost everyone had arrived-- the only missing member being the leader himself, Kaneda.

       While waiting out the last five minutes, you decided to have a little fun with Kai. He was facing away from you, mid-conversation and just about to sip from his can of Coke~Cola. You smiled mischievously, leaning over slowly and waiting for him to drink, when you blew slowly, and softly over his exposed ear. His face flushed a dark red, and choked on his drink, accidentally snorting it up and out his nose. Everyone doubled over laughing, patting you on the back in merriment. Kai, however, turned to you with a napkin over his nose, his eyes narrowing with a playful glint in his eye, “Oh, I’m gonna pay you back for that, (Name). I’ll pay you back double.”  
      Just a few minutes before nine, Kaneda pushed open the door, our group catching his eye and caused him to give a small smirk, “You’re early.” 

“What, did you walk? They take your bike away?” You asked amusedly, a cheeky smile drawn over your lips. As Kaneda walked over to our ragtag group, Yamagata queried impatiently, “You bring any, Kaneda?”

“Sure did,” Kaneda replied, dumping the contents of one of his pockets, revealing five tiny capsules. You pouted and popped one of your placebo capsules, snickering at the flabbergasted expression that Kaisuke gave you when he noticed you pop it.

       You listened in on Kaneda’s and Yamagata’s conversation, outwardly pretending to be preoccupied by Kai’s antics of trying to figure out where you got your capsule. However, both yours and Kai’s attention moved to them when you heard them say Tetsuo’s name, “By the way, Yamagata, you find out where Tetsuo is? I tried but…”  
“Me, too. No luck,” Yamagata grumbled as he slumped in his seat.

       Kaisuke chipped in, leaning behind you a bit, “I think something weird’s going on. I asked the police and Tetsuo’s mother,” Kai paused for effect, making a soft ‘poof’ sound with a matching hand gesture,  “...Nothing.” 

“It’s as if Tetsuo vanished,” You spoke softly, swirling the soda inside your Coke can, “No one knows where he was taken.”

       You had been watching that guy from earlier out of the corner of your eye, and you realized with a shiver of discomfort that his interest piqued at the mention of Tetsuo’s name. As if he was attempting to learn everything about him or checking in on how much you knew. It seemed you weren’t the only one who noticed him, either. After Kai was done spouting his conspiracy theory about why the cops let us off easy, he caught your line of sight, and leaned over the bar to whisper to the Master, “Hey! Who’s that guy?”

Master leaned on the bar, sarcasm tracing his teasing words, “Why ask me? Think he’s your type?”

       At this, you couldn’t help the laugh that was unfortunate enough to cause you to choke on your sip of soda, Kai’s face lighting up a furious red as he yelled obscenities, “Blow it out your ass!!”

       My eyes immediately darted to the door of the bar opening, discovering a female standing in the threshold of the doorway. Again, you weren’t the only one to “acknowledge” her presence… The boys began to drool as they chatted like school girls among themselves, causing you to roll your eyes in annoyance. You watched subtly as she walked her way to the table with the suspicious man, where they began talking in soft whispers, you assumed that they had known each other for a long time. It didn’t take long for Kaneda to stand from the barstool, strutting his way over to the table with the suspicious man and woman, although he was eyeing the woman hungrily. You scrunched your nose up in mild vexation at Kaneda’s flirtatious ways. You didn’t know why, but after a while of watching any living, breathing female that caught his eye get chatted up— the amusement of the quick and usually violent rejections quickly wore off.

“Kaneda, don’t!” Kai warned, Yamagata joining in. Kaneda’s smirk grew larger as he relaxedly assured you with the words “Heh, chill out!”

       Kaneda made the last few strides to their table, and they clammed up as Kaneda leaned his elbow on the tabletop, closing in on the poor woman. “Why waste time on the older generation? I want to talk to you,” He mused, not at all subtle about his interest in her. You chugged your Coke and crushed the empty can harshly, causing Kai to jump away from beside you in fear. Shoving yourself up from your seat, you were just about to drag Kaneda back to the bar counter yourself when you noticed the two make their way to leave, not giving Kaneda the time of day. You almost heaved a sigh of relief until you noticed the suspicious guy smack Kaneda’s elbow—of which he was using to support his leaning weight—toppling him onto the table because he was being too pushy. The two jumped up from their seat and dashed out of Harukiya, the older man ordering his partner to run. We all scrambled after them, finding the man had hesitated at the top of the stairwell, only to kick the boys back. You managed to dodge the avalanche of tumbling bodies, racing up the stairwell in an attempt to catch up to the pair of runaways. Kaneda cursed, and the boys de-tangled themselves from each other in order to follow after you. Kaneda knew you could take care of yourself, but the pair seemed highly skilled. You were smart, but how long could you last before you get worn out?  
       Racing through the dark streets of the Seventeenth District, you were on their tail until they slipped around a corner and you lost sight of them. You bent forward to rest your hands on your knees, the blood rushing in your ears and your head throbbing as you panted. Cursing, you ran forward again bumping into Kaneda and the group when you had mistakenly thought that their footsteps were from the pair you were trying to hunt down. You all split up, Kaneda deciding to take off in the same direction as you, when Yamagata found the old guy and set after him. We all flooded in after him, Yamagata taking a couple crates of glass bottles as cheap-shots. He fell forward, slicing his hand along the way, screaming out the irritable pain. When Kaneda and yourself appeared from the alleyway, he glared in the direction of the old guy in agitation. Then noticing you weren’t looking the same way—or even speaking for that matter—he turned to see what you were looking at and found the same old, wrinkly shorty as yesterday when Tetsuo got sent to a mysterious hospital. Kaneda smirked when he made eye contact, sneering at the kid who looked startled, “Well, look who’s here!”

       Kaneda started drawing nearer to the kid, Kai and Yamagata clearly confused on why Kaneda suddenly took an interest in this kid. You only observed, waiting to see how either party would handle this unexpected meeting.

“Because of you, Tetsuo is…,” Kaneda trailed off, deciding that he’d inform just who Tetsuo is and what he means to us, “You probably don’t know who he is-- He’s one of our best riders…”

“Anyway, because of you, Tetsuo is in the hospital,” Kaneda said as he drew even closer, like an animal closing in on the cornered prey, “He’s my friend, so I owe you for what you did to him. And I’m gonna pay you back, right now.”

“What are you talking about, Kaneda? You _know_ him?” At Yamagata’s outburst, the kid jumped and turned towards Yamagata, hie eyes wide and it looked like he was quivering in fear.  
“Since last night.”  
“Last night?” Yamagata echoed. 

       “The kid was standing in the middle of the street like a fucking idiot. Tetsuo’s injuries were due to trying to avoid turning this kid into roadkill,” You growled in frustration, you were wasting time! That suspicious couple could have information on where Tetsuo is, since the old man was so keen to listen at the mention of Tetsuo’s name. As you stand here, those two could have gone to the other side of Neo-Tokyo, or maybe book it on a plane out of Neo-Tokyo. You began gnawing the inside of your lip, drumming your fingers against your arm impatiently. As the other two join Kaneda in the group attack on the poor kid, you began to feel like you all were being watched. You chose to let it be, you all were causing a scene, so it was probably the curious stare of onlookers.  
“So _you’re_ the one!!”  
“Look at him. Just a kid, but with the face of an old man.”

      They were in a semi-circle around the kid now, real close and personal, you drew closer as well. The memory of last night keeping you on your guard-- you remembered how this kid had vanished into air right in front of you and Kaneda.

“Whattaya think?” Kaneda asked, a knowing smile on his lips.

“Let’s kick his ass!” Kai cheered, eager to make the punk pay for injuring Tetsuo.

       You felt your skin crawl, the air around that kid changed, as you watched his timid look turn into a grimace. You realized that the threat had pushed him into the fight side of the “fight or flight” debate, watching the glass behind him begin to crack suddenly. Before the glass cracked even more, you pulled the other three back and threw yourself in front of them, receiving gashes and cuts as the shards of glass whipped in front of the boy in defense. When the glass calmed down, you glared, feeling nothing as you began to pull out a few stray shards that had embedded in your arms. You sighed as the kid vanished once more, continuing to groom yourself clean of anymore embedded shards. Kai and Yamagata stared at where the kid had stood, utterly confused, “Where’d he go? What’s going on?”  
Suddenly, the suspicious woman from Harukiya came out from her hiding place, “RUN!” 

“Hey! The girl from Harukiya…,” Kaneda mused.

“Run…?” Kai repeated in more confusion, while you gave her a confused expression while licking your wounds. Normally, you would have patched yourself up with a first aid kit you had in your bike pack. You jumped when Yamagata let out a terrified scream, staring wide-eyed above you. You all lifted our gaze to where Yamagata was staring, becoming frozen stiff as you watched a piece of structure-- much like a water tower-- begin to fall over directly above you. As the structure impacted the ground, a large explosion erupted, the pressure of the heat pushing you all backwards. Every second that the bare skin of your body scraped against the ground, you began to feel all the stinging and throbbing of the cuts you received from the glass storm that kid made. You didn’t scrape for too long though because Kaneda caught you and absorbed the rest of the drag, holding you tightly to him until the pressure lessened. As we scrambled to our feet, the explosion drew the attention of many people, voices yelling to call the fire department before the fire spread beyond its current point. You all remained there, dumbfounded.

x~[A K I R A]~x

 

**_Just as the structure exploded…_ **

“ _Smoke at 9’o clock!_ ”  
“Looks like it’s in the Seventeenth District!”  
“Emergency! Emergency!” 

“This is _STF 14_. We’ve spotted a fire in the Seventeenth District,” The pilot paused, “maybe caused by an explosion. We’re going in to take a look!  
  



	3. Stranger Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *PREVIOUSLY*  
>         Following the night of Tetsuo's accident, (Name) and the boys were disciplined at school. Later that night, the gang gathered at Harukiya once more, talking about the mysterious circumstances surrounding Tetsuo's hospitalization. While they talked, (Name) noticed a suspicious man sitting on the other side of the bar, paying close attention to their conversation on Tetsuo. Soon after, a woman who was equally suspicious joined him. Kaneda, being the playboy he is, sauntered to the two and attempted to flirt with the woman, resulting in the two fleeing after making the first move against Kaneda. The gang chased after them relentlessly, until they had coincidentally run into the same child who had caused Tetsuo's accident. After continuous pressure from Kaneda and the boys, the young child somehow triggered a shower of glass and broke the large water tower that had stood above the street.
> 
> Left injured and otherwise startled, the four took shelter in an alleyway to avoid authorities...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited Chapters 1-3 April 26th, 2018

“ _An explosion_?!”  
“In the Seventeenth District? What do you think?”  
“One of our patrols is on its way.”

The man in the passenger’s seat turned around to face the men sitting in that back seats as he speculated, “Do you think _Number 26_ was behind it?”

A second man, sitting with another in the back seat, sat in front of some complicated technology as he replied bluntly, “We’ll have the details soon enough.”

Lastly, a man with an army style haircut, large build, and stoic expression commented, his low voice booming through the car, “It’s been thirty hours since he escaped. Soon he’ll be at _critical_.”

x~[A K I R A]~x

       You moved away from the public eye, down into an alleyway, just before the fire department arrived and started shooing away curious passersby. Kaneda was keeping an eye on the street with all of the firefighters, while you leaned against the wall next to him, dried blood coating your arms, face, and neck. You closed your eyes, listening to the sounds of the city… and Kai’s whining. Yamagata leaned forward from his spot on the ground, looking up at Kaneda, “How come we’re hiding?”Kai scoffed, “Stupid! You know what’ll happen if we get busted again so soon after last night?!”

“If we say we didn’t do anything and it wasn’t our fault, no one will believe us,” Kaneda affirmed wisely.

Yamagata sighed, letting his head lean against the wall, “Being a junior delinquent is a real pain in the ass.”

“What’s the story with the little freak?” Kai started, his gaze angled towards Yamagata, then turned to Kaneda's turned figure, “What do you think, Kaneda? Did he really destroy that window and the water tower?”

You opened your eyes and shifted your gaze to Kaneda—who had his body turned away from the rest of you—, a slight frown perched on your lips, as Kaneda responded, “How should I know?”“The water tower, too?” Yamagata inquired, to which Kai spat, “Did you think it was just coincidence?”

During those few minutes, Kaneda seemed to be in deep thought, as if something was nagging him.“Wait a minute—that girl!” He blurted out, as if in realization, “I bet _she_ knows!”

You grimaced, only because he had that look in his eye. You’d know that look anywhere, especially when he was _dead-set_ on doing something risky. He suddenly took off around the corner, yelling back to us an order, “You guys wait here!”

As the boys yelled after Kaneda for him to return, you only clicked your tongue, muttering, “I don’t think so…!”

“Hey (Name)! Where the hell are you going?!” Yamagata hollered, just as you rounded the corner to tail Kaneda. You only looked over your shoulder, “I’m chasing after our moronic leader! You two, stay low and try to recover, we’ll be right back!”

x~[A K I R A]~x

**_Within the hour, the suspicious man is still on the run…_ **

     The backstreets of the Seventeenth District blurred around him as he raced breathlessly ahead. As he turned into another small alley way, there was a cry, startling the man. He halted, standing and surveying his surroundings carefully, his heavy panting and blood rushing in his eardrums as he fought to catch his breath. He didn’t want to make any risky movement if he knew he was being tailed.

x~[A K I R A]~x

“Unit 3, search the other side of the highway…,” One of the military personnel paused, barking orders to the troops surrounding waiting to be given an objective, “Units 5 and 6 will take the northern residential area.”

       Many of the personnel were glaring grudgingly and analytically at the crowd of spectators. Kaneda slipped and squeezed his way through the crowd, but there was no way you were losing him in this cloud of human activity. You were going to stay right on his ass just enough that he wouldn’t know you were tailing him.  
“Maintain contact at all times!”  
“Unit 3, we’ll go on ahead!”  
“Right!”

       Your ears were ringing with all of the yelling, but you were much more focused on Kaneda’s body skulking through the crowds. You did briefly entertain yourself with a curious observation: Why the hell were there so many soldiers than cops when it was an explosion in a quiet and domestic area? Your attention quickly returned to Kaneda—when he suddenly jerked forward pushing roughly through the crowd—while actually trying to do so politely. Well… “Politely” for him. Those that stood in his way cried indignantly, shouting and becoming agitated at the sudden force knocking them around. You easily slipped between those who were standing there, however it started getting difficult as Kaneda quickened pace. Suddenly he cursed, just before accidentally stuffing his face into a woman’s chest, getting a mouthful of clothed titty. The crowd began to get agitated again, and you had to move quickly to keep Kaneda in your view. Soon enough he broke free of the crowd, and as you neared the edge, you noticed what had gotten Kaneda’s attention, and growled.  
      It was the goddamned Harukiya woman, _again_. The woman only glanced at Kaneda as he cried out for her to wait, pleading that he only wanted a conversation—which, as you recall, made sense when you thought back to the conversation you all had in the corner of the alleyway. However, this reminder didn’t quell the irritation you felt tingle around your heart when you thought of him chase this woman so _desperately_. You both paused when floodlights passed over you, blinding you. Looking up revealed a military chopper, just hovering over the street that you two were sprinting down.

It was deafening.

 

x~[A K I R A]~x

**_Back with the suspicious man…_ **

       He was pressed against the wall, using his arms to shield his face and eyes from the splintering of the wooden crates that were flung quickly at him, and let out a yelp when the next crate impacted just to his right.

“Stop it! Just cool off, would you?” He yelled with a quiver, his face slightly contorted with the expression of fear. Sweat dribbled down the side of his face, as he reciprocated the eye contact that the scared child in front of him gave, “I tell you, I’m on your side!!”

The child hesitated, only half-pulling his figure from the shadows of the towered crates, echoing softly, “My side?”

“Trust me. I don’t want to hurt you,” He smiled in relief, tugging at his jacket, “My organization are the one’s who got you out!”

The man glanced about, “You’re not safe here. The area’s swarming with people who’re after you.”  
“Are they wearing white coats?”  
“Yes, and there are a lot of them.” 

       There were the pounding footsteps of someone running on the gravel of the back-road where he and the child stood, turning around lead him to be face to face with a teenage boy, who store back at him in befuddled disbelief…

x~[A K I R A]~x

 

    You stubbornly stayed on Kaneda’s tail, even after he had gotten thrown off of that woman’s track. However, you came to realize that you had no where to stay out of sight when you had followed him straight to the woman’s partner and the kid who Tetsuo avoided. They both spun around to look at us in surprise and mild fear, the man shouting, “You!!”

    Kaneda only stared at them, as he panted harshly, confused as to how he got here and why the woman wasn’t here either. After a few more moments, Kaneda straightened himself, “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?”

“Some other time, perhaps. We have to be running along.”  
“Cut the crap,” Kaneda glared, as the kid peeked out from the shadow of the older man, “He and I have some unfinished business.”  
“I don’t have time for games.” 

“Then go!! My business is with the midget, not you!!” Kaneda screamed, the annoyance was starting to get to him and you sighed quietly at his behavior, Kaneda challenged again, “Are you gonna _move_?”

       The man stared evenly, but neither you or Kaneda failed to catch the movement of his hand calmly tugging out a pistol. Kaneda could barely keep himself calm as he gulped nervously when the man pointed it at him, “I told you I don’t have time for games!”

As you drew in a sharp inhale, bright light splashed onto you all from the left side, all of you shielding our eyes except for the kid who let out a yelp of surprise, “What’s going on here?!”

The older man stares Kaneda in the eye, and also glances at you, commanding, “Get out of here! Run!”

       Kaneda doesn’t miss the subtle glance to you behind him—but before he could let that distract him—you raced up to him, gripping his hand tightly and began tugging him into your full-speed sprint. The man and kid don’t hesitate long after, just as one of the officers comment on the weapon he still has clutched tightly in his hand. You took some of the crate towers around and toppled them so they would lose time, the group of officers splitting to chase you and Kaneda—who went a different way—and the man and boy who had gone the opposite way. As you both ran, Kaneda cried out behind you, “Don’t shoot! We’re not the ones you’re after!!”

You both could hear the sharp bursts of gunfire, you were sure that was the man, making a stand against the officers. You suddenly came to a halt, and Kaneda yelled in panic, “No!!!”

“It’s a dead-end!” You were panting heavily now, but the adrenaline had kept the burning in your throat at a minimum. Your skin felt like it was a pulsing fire but rubbing it only made you sense the icy top layer of flesh. Again, the bright flashlights poured over us, Kaneda making a valiant effort to put himself in front of you when the officer got into a stance to prepare fire as he hollered, “You in there, freeze! Put your hands up!”  
       “Don’t make a move. Throw down your gun,” You couldn’t help but roll your eyes. Of _course_ , the mystery woman who was running from you would come back to help you. You just hoped that Kaneda wouldn’t think she was actually interested, rather than just save our lives out of generosity. The officer flinched, and spun around, spinning to blind her with the flashlight. She was calling out to him to stop moving, however, he didn’t listen and she pulled the trigger. His head popped like a water balloon, and she had her eyes screwed shut, as if she doesn’t shoot people in the head for a living. The corpse splattered against the wall beside you, his blood smearing down the wall as gravity pulled him to rest against the earth. Kaneda shakily called out to the deceased, “Shit! M-mister…? Hey…”

       You had to swallow harshly to keep the bile in your throat, pushing Kaneda forward so you could stop sharing the same wall with the dead man, and the woman called out to you in a very stern order, “Come on! Follow me!”

       You clicked your tongue, glaring as you chased after her form reluctantly, Kaneda trailing behind before his brain caught up. Now here you are, stuck with your crazy childhood friend who dragged you into this mess by being a reckless idiot, and the lady he’s obsessed with. You felt _really good_ about watching Kaneda drool all over this bitch. You groaned inwardly, your mind fed up with this whole thing, ‘Just why did it have to be like _this_ …?’

x~[A K I R A]~x

  ** _Back with the wrinkle-kid and old man…_**

       The cracked, dingy walls and litter-filled ground of the maze of alleyways blurred past the both of them as they whipped through to escape the men. The older guy would stop every so often to try and shoot at them, and then keep moving. They flew around the next corner, which left the maze and led out to the more civilian populated area, the kid being sling-shot around corners by this man. The man shot out some more, the troops of men in the alleyway multiplying quickly, crying out orders, “They’re in the shopping center! Circle around the other side and cut them off!”  
       They continued in their mad-dash through the shopping area, the kid flying into a woman, who then dropped her bag of groceries. She screamed at them to return and compensate her, throwing profanities at their quickly receding figures. Now, instead of the unkempt shadows of the alleys, the bright neon-lit streets of the city breezed and blended around them as they sped through the crowds. 

In a car, en-route, one of the men sitting in front of the strange terminal announced, “It appears we’ve found Number 26!”

“What do you mean ‘appears’?” The man with the buzz-cut questioned gruffly.

“There has been no positive identification, but our forces are in pursuit of them now. They… Have a gun,” This information caused the buzzcut man to subtly quirk a brow, as he repeated, almost amusingly, “‘They’...? Very well. Contact the lab. Tell them we’ll be needing _Masaru_.”

One of the men fumbled at this declaration, “M-Masaru—?!”

“But… But Masaru is—!”

The buzz cut man answered simply, “Masaru may succeed where one-hundred armed men have failed me,” He paused before he thundered, his voice booming in the small space of the car, “Now stop wasting time and obey me!!”

The two men nervously saluted, carrying on with the orders the man had just given them.

x~[A K I R A]~x

{Reader’s Point of View *it makes my life easier*}

       As we followed this woman blindly, she led us into a sewer channel. The stench was awful and the feeling of the cold water splashing against my clothed skin, or squelching in my sneakers made shivers run down my spine. The woman suddenly gasped, and climbed up the rock ledge to the thin walkway that followed the wall’s edge. I clicked my tongue, and roughly tugged Kaneda to join us on the ledge as the woman hissed, “This way! Quickly!” The woman peeked around the corner, the sound of Kaneda and I panting quietly and the slow moving water was the only sound that met my ears. Then the voices of the officers continuing to scout for us began to sound slowly from a murmur, then louder and clearer, “I thought I saw something!”  
“Bring a light!”  
“Break out the infrared!” 

       Kaneda leaned an arm against the wall and the woman flinched as the spotlight slowly panned closer and closer to where we were lurking. The light only shining a quarter of the flashlight's radius on the wall directly across from us, until the one of the officers barked, “They’ve been spotted in the shopping mall!”  
“Let’s go!”

Kaneda's breathing started to even out, but before he could say a word, I interjected, “By the way… Who the hell _are_ you people?” 

“That’s what I want to know!!” The woman spat, rounding on us with an incredulous expression, “Who are you, and what’s your connection to the little guy?”  
“Who? The wrinkle-runt? That kid?” 

The woman shook her head, and put a hand in her pocket where I watched her stash the gun before now, “Not that it matters. I can’t let you go now…”

I watched her suspiciously, I felt like something oddly cliche was about to be done, and I was not disappointed. I watched her calmly point the gun towards me, since Kaneda was behind me, and command, “Come with me.”

Without hesitation, Kaneda snapped his fingers and retorted with a “charming” smirk, “My pleasure!”

I rolled my eyes with a scoff, “Of friggin' course. Jesus, Kaneda… Could you not get in trouble for once in your life?”  
“Shaddup, you’re the one who chose to follow me, (Nickname).”  
“And you still haven’t realized how you’ve _survived_ this long, Kaneda…”

  
  
  
  
  
  



	4. Empty Bullet Shells & Sewage Rats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *PREVIOUSLY*  
>         After the run-in with the strange kid who caused Tetsuo's accident; Kaisuke, Yamagata, Kaneda, & (Name) find themselves hiding in a nearby alleyway as Kaneda thinks about all that had happened. He hastily announces that he is going to hunt down the suspicious woman from Harukiya for answers, before racing off to leave the other three behind. (Name) begrudgingly follows him due to his recklessness, leaving Yamagata and Kaisuke behind. After tailing Kaneda through thick crowds of people, the two stumble upon the suspicious man from Harukiya and the kid in an alleyway, after only tailing the Harukiya woman. (Name) & Kaneda's confrontation with the man and child draw the attention of the nearby army troops, causing the four to split away into the alleys. After being cornered in a dead-end by a soldier, the two believe that they have just met their end, until the Woman from Harukiya comes and kills their offender. She orders them to follow her as they take to the waterways and sewers of Neo-Tokyo, claiming them as her hostages by gunpoint.   
>         Both willingly—Kaneda—, and unwillingly—(Name)—, the two follow the Harukiya woman to help her reunite with her partner...

       He fired the pistol mercilessly against those chasing them, his teeth grit and an eye scrunched closed to increase his accuracy. He had barely been able to drop the completely spent clip, fetching the extended ammo clip that was taped around his leg, and fire again at the swarming troops. He ducked—with the kid still glued to his side—around to the front of a stopped bus, where he cursed upon hearing the strike of a stray bullet shattering the top corner of the bus’s front window. He let out a strangled grunt, jumping out around the corner of the bus just enough to shoot the men. He crouched and hugged against the cold metal as he could, before turning to the kid who watched from behind helplessly with a worried gaze.

“Get across the bridge! Run!” He cried desperately, trying to get the kid to move his legs and reach for the freedom he should have as a child.

 

x~[A K I R A]~x

 

“We’ve received word he’s pinned down by the canal in the Eighteenth District, sir.”  
“When is Masaru expected?”

“His **_ETA_** is twenty minutes,” One of the men grunted.

Only the sound of the sizable airship above them remained, thundering with rolling, tremulous noise as its turbines rattled.

 

x~[A K I R A]~x

**_Panic. Fear. Those were constant, swirling and sloshing around the poor mind of the child surrounded by violence, like that of a thrashing tide…_ **

“What are you waiting for?! Go!!”  
       He could hear the demanding order from behind him, but his slightly hunched body could only muster panicked gasps of wheezy breath as he felt his skin begin to glisten with nervous sweat. The sound of gunfire long since been muffled by the anxiety and fear welling up within him. The man watched as another truckload of men approached them. They’d never get anywhere if these troopers keep coming at them in waves. The man clicked his tongue in indignation before taking the poor boy’s hand in his steady, iron-like grip, making another break for it to—hopefully—put some more distance between them. Everything around them blurred as they raced, the sound of their vehicle speeding towards them from behind.

“Oh, crap—!” He yelled, rounding around another parked vehicle in the parking garage they had been chased into, “We’re finished!”

       Another flashlight landed upon them, and he again cursed out to no-one in particular. Then out of nowhere, he heard cries ahead where the crowd of troopers stood; the squealing of tires echoing in the tight space as it got closer and closer to him and the boy. The truck swung around into his view when it rammed into the wall beside him, violently. There was a person sitting behind the wheel, using their arms to protect them from the splashing debris, but his attention was soon redirected when a sliding door on the side of the small truck opened.

 

x~[A K I R A]~x

       I had been keeping the ‘oh, shit’ handle clenched in a white-knuckled fist at Kaneda’s reckless and practically rage-like driving. This goddamned minivan somehow felt much more vulnerable than my bike ever felt, even when sideswiping and bike jousting against the local gangs. When Kaneda tried to kill us by just ramming the fucking van into a fucking wall, I thought I was actually going to be dead. I was just recovering from the sheer force of slamming into a wall at top speed when what’s-her-face slammed the sliding side door open and shouted at someone on Kaneda’s side of the van.

“Ryu! Get in! Hurry!!”  
“Kei?!?” Came a gruff, bewildered answer. Ah. We finally learn her god-forsaken name. After all this time of tugging us around and following her commands. I heard Kaneda shout at Ryu, ordering him to get in. The man and kid hastily jumped inside and an ecstatic, crazed grin broke across Kaneda’s face as he put the pedal to the medal once more; my hand was still glued to the ‘oh, shit’ handle.

“Let’s go!” Came Kaneda’s cheer as the car lurched around into a sudden one-eighty degree spin.

       The troopers who were startled by the mere appearance of this wild van rushing around them soon snapped to their senses, the orders to open fire being raised from all around us. One of the troopers tried to grab at Kaneda in passing, latching on to the door and the wheel as Kaneda tried to use his left foot to push him off the van. I was just about to lean over and help him shove the guy off when another caught my side of the van. His arm was looped tightly around my neck, his elbow holding my head in place as he tightened his grip. My hands clawed against his arm as he continued applying pressure, and I could hear Kei and Ryu’s voices rise in some sort of concern. The thought flashed in my mind that Kaneda could actually kill us if he got distracted by this stupid uniformed fucker choking me out, and so I leaned my head forward as much as I could. His elbow even more uncomfortable as my throat pushed against it to get a little distance. Then, with as much speed as I could muster, I grit my teeth and grunted, swinging my head back to bash the back of my skull against the trooper’s face. I could feel and hear his nose crunch, warm blood oozing into my hair as his arm slipped from around my neck and he fell back to the ground outside the van.  
       I brushed my hand gently against the quickly forming bruises around my throat; deep, raspy, and gasping coughs escaping my lungs as I drank in fresh air. I heard the two in the back sigh, one of them putting down the gun on the cold metal floor of the bed. I wanted to smile a little, in gratitude, or in bitterness. They might have been aiming for the man that was choking me to help me. They might have shot me so that the man would fall out of the van with the weight of my body. I was thankful I didn’t have to find out. Kaneda’s voice rang out, it was strained, as if he was watching and struggling with wanting to help and having to drive us all out of this shit hole:

“(Name)?! Are you okay??”  
Finding my voice once again, I managed to wheeze out teasingly, “Yeah… Just keep your eyes on the road will ya, else I’ll really die.”

“No promises, (Nickname)!”

x~[A K I R A]~x

**_The sounds of military choppers surrounded him as they landed beside his car. He felt confident. The matter will be resolved soon, in due time…_ **

       For a few moments, only the reverberation of the chopper propellers was the only sound to be heard as they began to power down for temporary landing. As they unloaded one of the choppers, the burly man with the buzz-cut’s voice boomed as he commanded, “Be careful.”  
A U.F.O. looking shuttle was carefully escorted down the steep ramp by men dressed in nice black suits, and the almost blinding lights from within the chopper distinguished a small figure sitting comfortably inside the small shuttle. They guided him carefully before the tall man, and stood to attention.

x~[A K I R A]~x

       It was almost unsettlingly calm as Kaneda continued to rocket us down the streets in the destroyed van, however, our guard was only reinforced as we drove up to a bridge. The bridge was coated in numerous troopers like ants, and almost at the end of the bridge, they had pulled an eighteen wheeler into position to impede our progress of getting any farther. They had begun to leisurely take their time aiming at our van, and my eyes tightly screwed shut for a moment as the van continued to drive forward into collision distance of the massive semi. Then in mere seconds, my ears were greeted with a loud roar of an explosion. I opened my eyes, and was met with the scene of the bridge burning, a great ball of fire where the van had impacted. I took a breath of relief, reaching out to hold on Kaneda’s sleeve for a moment, thanking his quick-thinking for devising that plan. He angled his head towards me slightly, as if amused at this sign of momentary weakness, before I released the pinch-full of cloth.  
He looped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me flush against him, a clever smirk painted upon his thin lips, “I told ya that it would work out perfectly~.”

       I could only smile and playfully push him away, my face heating slightly at my nerves being noticed. I walked off a few paces away to sit with the kid, a bit of worry as I looked him over.  
After a few moments, silently watching the plumes of smoke and licking flames, Ryu turned to meet Kaneda’s gaze, “I suppose I ought to thank you.”

“Keep your thanks, mister,” Kaneda started with a smile—it was the closest to modest he would get—before continuing jokingly, “Just remember you owe me one.”

I rubbed the poor kid’s back gently as the two spoke. He was starting to look like he was going to throw up, his body becoming wracked with tremors over and over. Ryu let out an almost breathless huff, like a laugh, “Right. Let’s get out of here.”

       Kei watched somewhat horrified, and so I spoke up enough for the two men to hear, “Guys, something’s up with the kid… He looks like he’s gonna be sick!”  
“He’s sweating and shaking like a leaf in autumn,” Kei added on.

       I watched helplessly as the kid curled up on himself, sweat coming off his body in waves, and painful groans and intakes of breath were the only sound tumbling from his chapped lips. I carefully, cautiously, gathered him into my arms and rocked him back and forth on my lap. He was so light that it was a little shocking. My hands drew small circles on his back as I hummed softly, hoping that I could help this kid at least be comfortable in whatever pain he’s in. I felt everyone’s eyes upon me, sharp with genuine surprise that I would go out of my way to show compassion towards this strange child. My gaze met theirs, and I mumbled softly, “I have baby siblings at home, and I am usually the only one around in my family to care for them. They’re both very weak, and get sick easily. The neighbors help me watch them, since my mom is always working and my father is… Well… Somewhere.”  
       Kaneda’s head drooped slightly, his hand reaching to rub the back of his head, his awkward quirk. He had already known, since we were childhood friends. Kei’s eyes widened slightly in astonishment and Ryu gave me a look that was reminiscent of pity. I shook my head, “I don’t need pity. I just can’t stand seeing a little kid suffer like this without thinking of them.”

My attention was brought back to the poor child in my arms, letting out a sharp gasp as he shifted. Suddenly, the little sewage tunnel we were hiding in began to crack and crumble.

“We have to move! His power is becoming unstable from whatever he’s going through!” I spat, already quickly—but carefully—shuffling out from under the sewage tunnel, hugging the boy tighter slightly to keep him secure. Then his eyes instantly shot open, as if startled from a daydream, allowing a small yelp to escape. I continued to rub his back as soothingly as I could, until Kei uttered out a quiet, “What’s that?”  
       We all turned our gazes to follow Kei’s, coming to find a strange shuttle floating a little ways away. Staring at it closely, revealed a person sitting inside it. Ryu rushed out in front of us to sit at the opening, crouched on one knee with the pistol already aimed for the figure, and Kaneda came to stand just behind him, asking “Is it the army?!”

As I watched it curiously, I could heard it say something. It was soft, like a passing ghost of wind, another child’s voice, “Ta… ka… shi…”  
       The child in your arms gawked, his breathing was fast and heavy. His arm reached out slowly, shaking weakly—then in a flash, was grabbed harshly by Ryu, his expression showed how alarmed he was. He tugged him towards him, spooking the poor kid, shouting, “Is that really your name, Takashi?!”  
       Cold sweat created a sheen over his skin, as he slowly returned his flabbergasted eyes to the figure whom called after Takashi, his voice a shaky utterance, “But…”

“If that’s true, then you’re not…,” Ryu choked, his mouth getting dry, “We thought you…”

“... Akira...?”

       The figure, who had come closer little by little, was a child as I thought. He was wearing a child’s suit, and had short shaggy hair. He was quiet for a while, and after a few moments I had realized my breath was baited in anticipation.  
Finally, he spoke once again, emotionless and carefully calm, “... No. I am not.”

       At this reveal, I sneakily glanced at Kaneda’s expression, only to be greeted with a surprisingly adorkable confused expression written all over his face. I snorted a little bit, snickering beneath my hand as I desperately bit the inside of my lip to stay quiet.  
       “And just how did you learn of Akira?” Came a deafening, powerful voice, booming above us and making me jump enough to accidentally loosen my grip a bit. Takashi almost fell face first into the murky, black, foul-smelling sewage until I caught him, readjusting him in my arms. Standing on top of the sewage tunnel we were hiding in, we found a tall, muscled man, dressed in a nice suit. His brownish hair was cut into a neatly trimmed buzz-cut, and his face was dressed in a stern, firm expression. His eyes were steely and paired with a manly set of furry eyebrows. Kaneda’s face immediately straightened as he shot a glance to his right.

“Uh-oh.”

The stomping boots of troopers sounded and I could tell this very muscle-built man had us surrounded.  
“Blast it!” Ryu cried, his head whipping between each of the men that had their weapons pointed at us.

“We’re surrounded, guys! Best we don’t do anything too rash,” I called out, eyeing Ryu especially as he defensively had pulled out his pistol again in retaliation. Feeling a little more than vulnerable, since I was holding Takashi, I scooted closer to Kaneda. I could feel a subtle tremor of fear rattle through me, and I almost let out a huff of humorless laughter. The man above us smiled, and I felt threatened by how condescending his tone sounded, “Don’t you realize how futile all this is?”  
Takashi squirmed a bit more, his hand trying to reach out once more to the figure in the shuttle before us, his voice was tired, strained, “A pill… Give me… A pill… Hurry…”

The man standing above us began addressing us again, “In a way… I’m grateful to you. Obviously, we need to re-examine our security… Find the weak spots, and the leaks…,” he paused before continuing in a mildly praising lilt, “Even so, I’m impressed you got this far.”

“ _Color me impressed_ ,” I mumbled lowly, mockingly and making sure that he wouldn’t be able to hear me.

       Kei’s head pivoted towards Ryu, her voice coming out hoarse through her slight panic, “Ryu, what do we do?!”  
In which her only answer was a low, throaty growl. Kaneda’s face crunched in irritation, though when he spun around to face me fully, his eyes had that damned glitter in it again. He looked over to Kei, ordering her to give him her gun, then snatched Takashi by the scruff from my arms and punted the kid into the sewage a little in front of him. He jumped down, landing above Takashi and aiming the end of the barrel at the poor kid’s head, shouting confidently, “Freeze, suckers!!”

I hissed softly to myself in utter disbelief, “Kaneda, what the fuck are you doing…?”  
The burly man’s men looked to each other before one standing beside him called out his rank, but then was cut off by the man himself, “You’re being very foolish.”

“ ** _I don’t wanna hear it!_** ” Kaneda spat, growing slightly frustrated as he continued, “For some reason, this little creep’s important to you!”  
He added quickly, “And this gun I’m holding has a hair trigger!”

“You still refuse to understand,” The man challenged, his voice lilting in slight disappointment, “Very well...”  
His gaze fell upon the other kid, and drawled out, “Masaru…”

Masaru responded quickly, his voice filled with concern, “Colonel… Takashi is in a very bad way.”

“Precisely,” The Colonel replied, “Speed is of the essence… And guns are no use now.”

Kaneda finally had enough of this confusing exchange, screaming as commanding as he could, “ ** _Knock off the chatter up there!_** If you let us go, the freak’s all yours!”

He then whispered to Takashi, reassuringly, “Don’t worry, we won’t really hurt you.”  
“ ** _So, what’s it gonna be?_** ” He shouted back to the Colonel, and I prayed to whatever deity out there that this plan of his won’t get us killed.

Takashi looked almost unresponsive after those words of comfort, his eyes opening themselves and looked like he was going limp. His face was still covered in sweat and his eyes were glazed over in his suffering.

“He needs a pill…” Masaru suggested timidly, earning an immediate denial from the Colonel.

“Okay, kid,” Kaneda whispered to Takashi once again, “Get ready to do your thing.”

“A pill…”

A thick, stagnant silence soon took over, as both sides waited for a result. Either we die, or they take Kaneda’s bluff.


	5. Desperate Measures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *PREVIOUSLY*  
> The two teenagers were on the run, forced to follow the woman with no name—Kei. Meanwhile, her partner has been relentlessly fighting back against the army that encroached upon their current location. He begged the boy—Takashi—to run further ahead while he bought some time. However, the young child was too overwhelmed and remained frozen by his side. The man—Ryu—was nearly at his wits end trying to protect the boy, though, they were soon picked up by the trio in a mostly bent-up van. Creating a diversion with the van, they were able to lose the troopers for a bit. While they recovered from the chase, the child that they had taken with them began to act strange.  
>         Suddenly, another child appeared before them, and the mysterious couple let it slip that their searching for someone named Akira. The child, Masaru, is not alone however. With the army cornering the group once again, tension begins to rise. Kaneda—taking all of their lives in his hands—makes a bold play, but will he be able to pull it off...?

       The silence was deafening as Takashi and Masaru exchanged glances. Masaru’s expression was that of complete helplessness as he watched Takashi reach out desperately. Perceiving the silence as some sort of answer; the tension in Kaneda’s shoulders lessened a little bit. His expression was a bit more smug than it should have been as he glanced up at the Colonel with a dimpled smirk like the battle had already been won, “So, I guess we’ll be going.”  
       Kei and Ryuu exchanged confused glances at how this was panning out, however my eyes were glued to the Colonel’s figure. There was no way this man didn’t have something up his sleeve, since he is well acquainted with these powerful children. Colonel sternly called out to Masaru, as if ordering him to take action, and almost instantly a chill rushed down my spine. I felt my lungs cease to withdraw air, as I watched with heightened caution like a cornered animal.

“Hey, Masaru, or whatever your name is,” Kaneda interjected, still blissfully unaware of who had the upper hand, “What’s your problem? Butt out, only if you care about your friend.”

       Masaru’s brows knitted together slightly in dismay, probably towards Kaneda’s words, and jarringly the sludge of the sewer that Kaneda stood in began to twist and twirl like a whirlpool around him and Takashi. We all gasped, fear of the unknown and in startled surprise at what was occurring before us. Kaneda began to panic as the muck grew larger; bubbling and morphing as it towered above him and Takashi.

“Hey, what are you—,” Kaneda cried out in astonishment, wrongly rounding back on Takashi and barking orders, “ _Stop that!_ ”

“I-I can’t help myself!” The small child helplessly defended himself. My eyes followed the steady rise of Kaneda’s left arm, in which his hand clenched the small pistol, as if he was about to strike Takashi. Before I had even registered what was happening inside my mind, my thoughts had slammed into a wall, whatever they had been completely fading into oblivion as I rushed towards them and hastily wedged myself between them.

“ ** _NO!!_** ”

       My eyes were screwed tight, my jaw clenched, ready to take the full force of Kaneda’s swing. However, I felt nothing, and heard nothing for a few breath-snatching moments. Hesitantly peeling an eye open, I found his hand stopped just four inches over my face. Kaneda’s eyes were confused, surprised, but there was a little swirling darkness in his already dark onyx eyes; it was some sort of dark emotion, and it left a bitter taste on my tongue that was similar to regret. Kaneda almost looked like he was holding back tears, probably the shock of my appearance in front of him startled mist to his eyes. I finally met his gaze evenly with my own and he nearly flinched. However, there wasn’t much time to realize how upset I was at the torture of this poor kid.  
       Suddenly, the pressure of the air shifted, and electricity began to dance across the fine hairs of my arms. Peering around our feet, the sludge was pulling away from us in such a neatly-cut fashion where it left a perfect square encompassing the three of us. Everyone looked alarmed, though I couldn’t tell if Takashi had shown the same surprise. As I had tried to turn and examine him, I had come to find the kid face first in the gunk of the stagnant sewage. Kaneda must’ve accidentally released his grip on Takashi’s shirt, just as he had finally lost conscious. It seemed Kaneda had been following my gaze and suddenly exclaimed, in a pitch that was unusual for him, “ _Holy shit!_ ”

       I barely registered Kaneda hugging my body to his before we were flung off the strange platform, the sheer speed at which it was raised causing us to sail into the air while Takashi remained face-down in the remaining liquid on the now sewage tower. I could hear his screech in my ear as we still soared in the air, “That did it!”

       The both of us landed painfully into the knee-deep thickness of the sewer dregs, Kaneda groaning slightly from taking the most force of the landing, allowing in his grip around me to loosen. I glanced to the sludge tower and noticed it beginning to get closer and closer as the thought came easily:

_Oh.  
It’s tipping._

        I quickly hooked an arm around Kaneda’s waist and hastily clawed my way back towards Kei as he came back to the present and began screaming gibberish, narrowly dodging the column crashing down upon us. The shock-wave of its force submerged the both of us by surprise, and upon instinct I latched onto Kaneda who tried to do so in turn.

_Then… Everything was muffled down. As if we were embedded in large swaths of cotton. I didn’t take a big enough breath before going under with Kaneda…_

_And I felt myself slipping away…_

                                                                                                                 x~*[A K I R A]*~x

       The two who were still standing by the sewer tunnel were being pelted by sizable stones that were being flung from the sludge tower’s tip over. Ryu called out to her in a command, ordering her to move, however the only noise that forced its way from her mouth was a scream. Her eyes still wide as if her eyes had stopped taking in information and her mind ceasing to go into action from all that has transpiring. Suddenly it was as if the waterways of the open sewer was cut into perfect foot-thick squares of still moving liquid, jumbling around as if it was a box of a kid’s jigsaw puzzle.  
The Colonel cried in frustration, “They mustn’t escape!!”

His orders grew louder as the two unsteadily hopped their way, his voice still howling, “Get them! Shoot! **_Shoot!_** ”

       Suddenly, Kaneda’s hand rose from the sludge, smacking the top surface of the concrete in need, as he hoisted himself up, gagging a little at the disgusting mire that had managed to pass his lips. His eyes caught onto locks of familiar (hair color) hair, his breath hitching as he watched for a moment how she didn’t move. He desperately thrust his arms into the water, clasping onto her (skin color) arms tightly and tried to lug her body closer to him as fast as he could. Once she came in reach, he quickly lifted her into his arms, his eyes instantly went to scan over her face. He could feel his lungs burning with how quickly his lungs took in and expelled air in his panic. He pressed his head to her chest, only momentarily becoming embarrassed of where he was placing his ear, until he focused on her heartbeat. He bit his lip nervously until he heard the slow steady thumps of her heart, he hovered his hand over her nose and felt the air being exhaled. Kaneda concluded that she would be fine but probably still had some of this gross crap in her lungs. He glanced around him his eyes catching Masaru and Takashi. Glancing one more time at (Name)’s pale, peaceful face, he raced over to the two strange children.  
Masaru tried to guide his strange spaceship thing as close as he could to Takashi, outstretching his hand to him with something in its safe, small grip, “Takashi, your pill—!”

       Masaru, acknowledging the great risk this would have, reeled back his arm and threw the small capsule to Takashi, who had now become conscious again and was stretching himself eagerly to Masaru. Takashi watched as the little pill clicked against the solid rock in front of him, and tried to angle his free hand to catch the pill on its bounce, missing it by just a few millimeters and watched in dread as it was about to sink into the sickeningly murky depth of the water. Kaneda’s hand lurched forward, catching the pill almost effortlessly, earning a horrified look of surprise that eclipsed over Masaru’s face. Takashi’s face was grit in an anger that was akin to animalistic, and almost frightening to see spread across a child’s face, however Kaneda felt so proud to have snagged something so precious from them, he could feel his cockiness spill out from his own self, taunting, “If ya want it, come and get it!”

       Kaneda dashed toward (Name), throwing her over his shoulder haphazardly, and continued to bound away from the now mass of water that was surging behind him like a busted dam, “This is _intense!_ ”  
       Then approaching a leap of faith, or what felt like it, he held (Name) steady by barring his arm over the back of her knees and jumped, cheering on all the while, “I’m outta here! See ya!!”

       The surprised cries of the Colonel’s soldiers who were swept away or struggling fruitlessly to escape the dangers of the two strange children, echoed solemnly under the heavy footfalls of Kaneda’s heels pounding against the asphalt, trying to gain as much speed as he could get. The warmth still radiating from (Name)’s unconscious body was the only comfort he had for his remaining fears.

x~[A K I R A]~x

        The structure around them continued to crumble as chaotic cries of the Colonel’s men wailed around them. Masaru and Takashi remained on a now levitating, level chunk of stone, floating just above the churning, roaring waters. Takashi was on his hands and knees, a few feet away from where Masarus hovered quietly. Kei, who quickly scanned all of the destruction before her, finally managed to find her words, panting out “Those two, Kaneda and (Name)... Did they…?”

        Ryu merely panted beside her, before his eyes darted to the pitch black skies to be met with one of the Colonel’s military choppers coming for them, spitting out in absolute displeasure, “We can’t worry about him now!”

        At the same time, Kaneda—still toting around an unconscious (Name)—was practically standing next to the chopper as it moved in to the epicenter of the destruction. As the noise and quaking died down, many of the Colonel’s men gathered, wondering aloud if the activity had finally ended for good. The chopper soared above the Colonel, Masaru, and the now tired and still heavily weakened Takashi. The men quickly got into routine when the chopper finally began to touch down, barking orders left and right typical procedures of headcounts and ASAP escort of the injured to hospitals. Masked under all of the uproar, was the Colonel’s less than pleased exclamation of rage, “ ** _What the hell?!_** ”

Masaru flinched away from the thundering man, involuntarily taking a gulp, as the Colonel snarled rabidly what Masaru had reported, “You let him… steal… _the capsule?!_ ”

x~[A K I R A]~x

       Kaneda’s shoes made gut churning squelches with every footstep he took, the sound reverberating off of the narrow walls of the city alleyway. When he finally was out of eyesight of where Takashi had his mega flip-out, Kaneda had done standard CPR for (Name). Kaneda did briefly lose himself in how soft her lips felt—as cheesy as he felt for thinking it—but when she jerked forward taking deep gasps of air and trying to choke up the water in her lungs, he quickly forgot about it and held her matted, ratty hair back. She dared to hack up a lung with how much force she coughed with, however, she managed to spit out the icky gunk and gag a bit of bile up before passing out once more. Kaneda assumed that her body was totally wiped-out from everything that went on today. He had since shifted (Name) so that he was holding her in a more comfortable piggyback fashion, and had draped his drenched overcoat over her shoulders.

“What a night…,” Kaneda started to grumble, his eyes unwillingly trailed over to (Name)’s sleeping face, before sighing deeply, muttering once more, “ _What a mess…_ ”

       He sniffled, his nose starting to run, before he felt his nose scrunch up unwillingly. Then with a quick lurch, he leaned his head forward and sneezed harshly, before he went back to standing straight and readjusted (Name)’s body. He trekked almost miserably back to his apartment that the orphanage let him stay in, ignoring the strange and concerned looks of strangers as they cleared out of Kaneda’s path, probably due to how they both reeked like sewage rats. Finally reaching the landing of his floor, Kaneda felt like he was going to pass out from exhaustion, clearly not used to having to hike up his usual flight of stairs with a completely unconscious body on top of him. He dragged his boot-clad feet to his door, unlocked it, and almost kicked it open.

“I’m home,” He heard his voice echo as he greeted no one in his empty apartment. Flicking the hall light on, he carried her to his little living room with a love-seat couch and carefully placed her body onto the hardwood floor and peeled his wrinkled and stinky overcoat from her body. He raced to his bathroom, fetching a few beach towels he forgot he had and laying them across the couch. He then carefully lifted her bridal style and put her down on top of the towel covered cushions. He rushed over to the closet beside his little laundry station and pulled out one of the extra blankets he never used, and draped it over (Name)’s body. Getting the pungent stench of sewage and gunk out of the towels and blanket would be easy enough, however he knew that he’d be damned if he let it get soaked into the leather of the couch. He unwillingly placed a call for her house, and left a voicemail saying that '(Name) was at his place, she's fine, but didn't think she was awake enough to drive home', blah, blah, blah.

       Kaneda took a long relaxing shower, the hot water and soap quickly dispelling the memory of swimming in the thick, chunky-like liquid from earlier. Stepping out in a black T-shirt, red boxers, and the towel he used to dry off his hair slung around his neck, he padded out to his little kitchenette and found a sticky note stuck to the door of the fridge:

_Shoutarou Kaneda-kun,  
       We have done routine stock of your meals for this month and your monthly allowance. Please think about getting a part time job soon! I know you want freedom, but you should also do a little part time job so that you can have money to spend and have some fun like a boy your age should!_

_The Matron_

       Kaneda let out a soft scoff at the suggestion. He had no desire to work those cheesy part time jobs most teenagers got stuck with, especially since so much excitement has happened since his run-in with the kid and the very _attractive_ , yet mysterious Kei. He popped open the door of the fridge, his eyes lazily brushing by the labels and containers of foods and liquids, before closing the refrigerator door and opting for a glass of cold tap water. He chugged it down, and placed the glass cautiously inside the sink. He slunk back out to the living room to make his way to bed and finally be soaked into the dark embrace of sleep, when his legs willfully brought him next to (Name)’s sleeping form. His eyes slowly traced over her face. He almost felt lost in her features, and a weird sense of calm wash over him as he watched his fingers ghost above her forehead to sweep back the stray strands of her hair that had gotten in her face.  
       He almost hadn’t realized that he was leaning down to her face until his leg wobbled, temporarily shaking his balance as he shot up to full height. He excused himself even though there was no one there, and almost was flustered from his behavior as he scurried towards his room and closed the door calmly. He sunk on to his bed and put his face in his hands, he could feel his face was uncomfortably warm against the colder pads of his fingers and palms. He flopped onto his back and laid one of his arms on his forehead and his other arm splayed out beside him, his voice barely a squeak of a whisper, “What the heck is even _happening_ to me…?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not gonna lie, but this chapter had my knees weak from writing this and I'm sitting down... This was super intense to write LOL


	6. Uneasy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *cough* The chapter summary was too long for the actual chapter summary section, so I posted it in Notes this time around. *cough*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *PREVIOUSLY*  
>       Kaneda put up a ruse in front of the uneasy soldiers surrounding them, though his nerves were on fire, the smirk was his permanent mask. He towered over Takashi's suffering body, the barrel of the gun still aimed steady at his head. He felt so sure that he'd shaken the army enough that his group would be able to get out of this mess without too much hassle. Sadly, his time to buy had run dry. Takashi lost grip on his control, his powers wrecking havoc against Kaneda against his will. Kaneda was about to make a terrible mistake against the child, before (Name) easily got between them to take the force of the pistol-whip herself. But... It never came. Kaneda ceased, unable to allow himself to strike his childhood friend as Takashi's control continued to corrode quickly. (Name)'s instincts were on overdrive dragging Kaneda out of most of the danger, but her exhaustion soon caught up with her. She passed out beneath the surging gunk, leaving Kaneda falling to the depths of anxiety as he fished her out and found her still breathing. Then, snagging the strange pill, one that Takashi had been begging for, right from under their nose—Kaneda and his unconscious friend fled from the scene to his home as Takashi's power continued to spiral out of control...  
>      Toting (Name)'s body to his apartment, he tended to her carefully. Dazing at her peaceful expression, something within him seems to move on its own and throws his mind and heart in a flurry of confusion.
> 
> What is this feeling...?

       I was roused from the dreamless sleep that had coddled me in limbo, my eyes fluttering slowly open as they slowly observed my surroundings. It was still dark out, much like it had been before I passed out in the disgustingly foul waterway. The ethereal glow of the bright Neo-Tokyo nightlife filtered into the room in bright, translucent shafts through the traditional sliding balcony window. Pushing myself up slowly, I felt my entire body ache, grunting softly at the pins and needles in some of my muscles. There was a plush blanket draped loosely over me, and checking myself quickly revealed that I was still in the clothes I was wearing earlier. They felt stiff and smelled awful, which was understandable. I hoisted myself up carefully, standing upright and holding out my arms to help keep balance for a moment.  
       Dragging my feet gently across the floor, I wandered around a little until I found the kitchen. So far, the apartment was very bare. White walls, barely any dirty dishes or any dust. It may not come off as lived-in, but it was certainly well taken care of. I quietly opened the cabinet, successfully locating the glasses, and begged for the sink to not be loud when I turned the tap on. I fell into a daze, watching the clear liquid gather in the glass, my mind becoming just a little lost as I thought of all the crazy shit that happened tonight. I was snapped out of its brevity when the droplets of the overflowing excess dribbled into the metal basin of the sink, its sound ringing loudly in the quiet mumbling noise of the apartment. I tipped the glass slowly, to remove some of the water, then shut off the tap and sipped gingerly at my drink. Stepping out of the kitchen, I noticed a note of some sort taped to the door of the fridge. Taking a quick glance at who it was for, I relaxed and let out a breathy laugh at the notes contents. As smart and considerate the advice maybe, Kaneda wouldn't go through with it unless he decided to on his own without influence.

       Finishing the glass and feeling above better, my eyes once again began to feel the heaviness of exhaustion. I glanced at the only light glaring in the darkness of the kitchen, and found the microwave clock: 3 A.M. I debated just going back to Kaneda surprisingly comfortable couch, but I heaved out a sigh, knowing that I would rather go to school in a fresh set of clothes. I slapped my cheek with enough force that I felt a fiery tingling dance over my palm fiercely, and the crack of the skin hitting skin rang through the apartment. Placing the glass delicately into the sink basin, I sneakily tiptoed my way to the door of Kaneda’s apartment. I opened it slowly as possible to make sure it wouldn't snitch on me by squeaking loudly, then checking the lock by turning the knob on the outside, I slipped out all the way and closed the door. Looking out into the city darkness, I took a deep breath and marched down the steps of the complex, deciding that I should run home rather than mosey around late at night.  
       Rushing by the lonely strangers and seedy businessmen, the sidewalk was sparse enough to dodge the nightlife crowd. Making a harsh hook right, I dove into the lobby of my own apartment complex. I gave an awkward smile to the sour security guard and bolted for the elevator, pushing the button for the fourth floor and leaned against the cool metal wall. My lungs drank the air greedily as my heartbeat rang in my skull. The heat of the run pouring off of my skin in billowing waves. The elevator dinged and slid open the doors, allowing me to shamble out of its confines and to my door. I unlocked it with the key that was in my sock, and shoved inside the dark home. Peeling off my boots in the doorway, I noticed that my mother's shoes were absent. I heaved a sigh. Why do I even feel surprised anymore? It's like she's a ghost. She was supposed to be there, but all I ever felt were traces from when she was around. I tiptoed slowly through my home, stealthily creeping past my siblings’ room and into my own. I flicked on the light in my room, and hastily began peeling off my second, smelly skin. I chucked them over to my laundry hamper, and quickly slipped on some pajama shorts and a tank top. Flipping off the light and crawling under blankets, I set my alarm for 5 A.M. so that I could shower, and do my daily routine. In mere moments, I was out like a light.

x~[A K I R A]~x

       The blaring of my alarm made my headache, my eyes refusing to open as I blindly reached my hand out in search for the source of my agony. Once I successfully managed to dismiss the alarm, I trudged out of my cozy covers. Remembering the grossness I was in yesterday, I peeled the pillow cover, the pillow, the blanket, and my makeshift pajamas off and tossed them into the hamper to wash later. I picked out a pair of black skinny jeans with some ripped patches, underwear, a red Coca~Cola shirt written in black Japanese text, and a white hoodie with a cool orange graphic on it. I shuffled into the bathroom with my clothes in hand and jumped into the shower, hastily scrubbing my hair and body to desperately rid myself of its smell. Once I was satisfied, I turned off the water and patted myself dry with my favorite towel. Slipping into my clothes, I threw on a black choker with little drooping pieces of chain on it, and then marched out of the bathroom to throw on some long socks and my black combat boots. Returning to the bathroom, I put on deodorant, a little bit of perfume, and brushed my teeth. I walked out of the room again, and cautiously stepped into my sick sibling’s room. Treading through the room which was dimly lit only by the rising light of dawn, I slipped into the office chair beside their bed. I nudged their arms gently, afraid of being too rough on their fragile forms.

My little brother, Hikaru, was the first to wake, followed by my little sister Katsuka. Their little hazel eyes, peered up at mine, bleary due to their sleep as they smiled slightly.

“Good morning, squirts,” I whispered almost too softly.  
“Good morning, onee-chan.”  
“Is there anything you want me to get you before I leave for school?”

       The two thought for a moment, before they jumped towards me, their smaller, shorter arms attempting to wrap around my body in a heartwarming hug. I was about to ask if there was something wrong, when Katsuka spoke up, “We just wanna give you a big hug and wish you a good day!”

       Hikaru nodded shyly in agreement, his face still buried in the crook of my neck. A face-splitting grin stretched easily from ear to ear on my face as I pulled them tighter against me.

“You two are too cute! I love you, munchkins,” I loosened my hold on them and pulled away to look them in the eyes, “I’ll make you two a small breakfast and grab some water, I’ll also give Mrs. Tanaka a call so that she knows to check up on you guys today…”

I trailed off, my eyes a bit misty as I smiled wistfully. They sat patiently, wondering curiously at my expression. I gave a short sigh through my nose and patted their heads, “I’m sorry…”  
“For what?”  
“For not being here when you need me. For not taking care of you instead of leaving you home all day in bed, while mom is away and dad is gone.” 

x~*[A K I R A]*~x

       I closed their bedroom door behind me and leaned against it in slight thought. I had gotten them to eat a bit more than the usual amount, now all that was left to do before heading out was to call Mrs. Tanaka. I trudged to the phone, lifted it off the landline port, and placed the receiver to my ear as I dialed the all too familiar number. After a few rings, her raspy tone entered my ears with a greeting.  
“Is that you again, (Name)?”  
“Yes.”  
“I assume you want me to look after the two again, hm?”  
“Yes…”

“(Name), I feel sorry for those two. But I can only help so generously for so long... ,” She trailed off. Her true colors. I _have_ been relying on her a lot.

“I know, I’m sorry,” I apologized, “however, Hikaru and Katsuka are comfortable around you.”

       She was silent on the other end of the line, until a small exhale blew into the receiver, “Fine, but you really should contact your mother so that she can care for her own children for once instead of constantly being absent from their lives.”

I felt my jaw clench, though my response was just as weak as before, “Yes, Mrs. Tanaka.”

       After the goodbyes, the line was disconnected and I placed the phone back on the stand. I made a move to walk out of my home, when I remembered one more item. I rushed back into my bedroom and then out the door to school.

x~*[A K I R A]*~x

       The school was loud as he stepped along the familiar concrete sidewalk and steps. Its walls coated with the angry and despairing graffiti of students, the ground littered with the trash and waste of the teenagers passing through. The same scene of sad, sorry bodies curled up in corners drugged up or cowering as the strong pummel the weak. He found himself wondering how those who towered over the rest felt. Did it feel good? To prove to those below them that they were on a whole different level? His thoughts instantly drifted to Kaneda, but he shook the thought in annoyance. To him, it seemed it's always been a dog-eat-dog world. He was feeling sick of being the weakest of them all.

Their eyes followed him as he continued forward.

x~*[A K I R A]*~x

       I was tapping the buttons relentlessly on my old indigo blue GameBoy Advanced, as if the harder I pressed the button the less damage the Gym Leader of Cinnabar Island would do to my precious team. Kaisuke was watching amusedly over my shoulder, snorting when I let out a colorful string of swears that would make his own father blush, since Blaine used a Full Heal on his Pokemon and tried to own me with his Arcanine’s Fire Blast. Yamagata was reading the paper, probably for his gambling habits, and some of the other boys were just sitting around being rambunctious as always. I had just beat Blaine when the sliding door of the classroom slid open and revealed Kaneda. When our eyes met, he waltzed over and put his hand down on the desk. He practically loomed over me. I recognized this position of how he typically tries to approach any woman who catches his fancy. However, his face did not have his “casanova” smirk. His eyes stayed even with my own until he finally asked, “How are you feeling?”

I blinked, before smiling sheepishly, “Much better. Thanks for letting me crash at yours last night.”

The corner of his lips twitched into a smile, threatening to manipulate his more neutral expression.

“Anytime, (Nickname),” He paused, a teasing smirk finally slipping over his facade, “As long as you promise not to almost drown again.”

I felt my own face contort into a sly grin, echoing the words he said in the van last night, “No promises.”

       With a slight nod and a light humoring chuckle, he went around the long desk and slid in to sit in his normal seat beside me. I went back to my Pokemon journey, Kaisuke laughing at the name I gave the Growlithe that I decided to catch in the Pokemon Mansion. We sat in the loud zoo-like classroom, horsing around as teenagers normally do, even when the teacher finally arrived. Barely any of the students even spared the teacher a glance, although I let my eyes wander over when the teacher's voice boomed across the noisy room.  
“Who’s that behind the newspaper there?!”

Yamagata’s voice smoothly answered from behind the newest issue of _Japan Times_ , answering with a sarcastic, “Who wants to know?”

The teacher oozed frustration as he scolded Yamagata, “Yamagata! I am trying to conduct a class here!”

“ _Yeah! And I'm trying to read yesterday's race results, so would you keep it down?_ ” Yamagata sneered and rose swiftly to his feet, chiding the teacher as he continued with his hands and the paper slamming the desk, “You'd think I was creating a disturbance, the way you’re going on!”

       The teacher responded with a professional tone as he replied with something that must've been straight out of a teacher's training video, “A negative attitude, Mr. Yamagata, disturbs everyone.”

       Kaneda and I had a wide smirk on our lips as we enjoyed the show, Kaneda was hunched forward over his portion of the long desk, as if he were hiding something. I told myself to knock it off; if he didn't want to show it to us or wanted to keep it a secret, fine. However, after a few moments of seeing the mechanical pencil in his hand prod around the clean sheet of paper on his desk carefully, I knew that he wasn't drawing the next artistic masterpiece of this generation. I still tried to resist.

“That creep is pushing it,” Yamagata grumbled sourly.

“They know they can bust our chops as long as we're on probation,” Kaneda supplied, still fiddling with something, now in his hands. It was clearly something small...

Yamagata just groaned, “Why don't you just get off my case?”

       The small object in Kaneda’s hands suddenly pulled apart and a look of pleasant surprise spread across his face for a moment. He placed it back onto the thin surface of the printer paper, and used the mechanical pencil to prod it some more. I casually watched from over his shoulder, realizing it was a pill I didn't recognize as the capsules Kaneda usually totes around. I pulled away to stand in a more comfortable position as one of our gang members attention is pulled to Kaneda’s tinkering and falls upon the dissected drug, “Hey, Kaneda…”

“Save that stuff for _after_ school,” He paused, trying to sound threatening but coming off more as a deal or poor bargaining attempt, “and I'll forgive you for not sharing!”

Kaneda is quick and careful to guard the pill from further being seen, defending feebly, “This isn't what it looks like!”  
“Sure it isn't!”

“What are you getting so upset about? _It's not like the races are fixed or anything!_ ” Yamagata interjects, still arguing with the teacher, causing me to unintentionally let out a short snort of amusement. His emphasis on the importance that the races aren't fixed caught me a bit off guard because it's so easy to tip it into your favor when you have the money to rig the game.

“ _Are you trying to tell me there's nothing wrong with gambling?!_ ” The teacher screeches in utter disbelief, hands on his hips and attention trained onto Yamagata’s unwavering glare.

Meanwhile the kid was still hassling Kaneda for the strange pill, thinking it was just some if the normal goods, “Hey, Kaneda! Gimme some!”

Kaneda just trails off weakly, trying to come up with a reason, “I already told you…”

Yamagata brushes the teacher off calmly, his voice gruff with slight dissatisfaction, “Of course not. Just with losing. I'm out ten bucks this week.”

       I sigh, having enough of this kid pestering Kaneda, I lean over Kaneda slightly and give a cold smile to the kid, “I think you need your ears checked because I believe he told you to lay off… or do you want me to check your ears my way? After all if you don't use them then I don't think you need them, right?”

       The poor kid shivered as his face twisted with a coating of fear, his body twitching and itching to move slowly away from us, he sputtered, “Ah, y-yeah… My mis-s-stake! It's probably just some c-cough medicine any-w-ays!”

“The next _thing_ you're going to be “out of’ is this school… and on your way to reform school,” The teacher warned, the voice holding a definitively heavier threat in its undertone.

This was the last straw to Yamagata’s temper, his fist raised as he openly threatened the teacher, " _If that happens, your teeth'll be outta your mouth!!_ Y’see basically—”

“SorrysirIgottago!” Kaneda interjected, effectively cutting Yamagata’s sentence short and rising like a bolt to his feet. The teacher tripped over his words in genuine surprise before ordering Kaneda to return to his seat, Kaneda rather calmly and nonchalantly descending the steps leading to the rows of desks, “Nevermind me, sir. Just go on with class.”

        As he walked out of the classroom, I picked up the sheet of paper and examined it. Already knowing Kaneda was taking the pill with him to his destination, I decided to tail him. The rest of the student body just crying out that they want to leave too causing the teacher great distress. Letting the sheet flutter back onto the surface of the desk, I scooted past Yamagata, leaving him and Kaisuke curious as to where I was going to go. I approached the teacher bashfully, wringing my hand for full effect of nervousness, as he turned to me, “What is it, Miss (Lastname)? You can't leave unless is very important.”

“Yes, sir. I understand but uhm…,” I glance to the side shyly as I blushed brighter. Making a gesture to the teacher to lend me his ear, I whispered as tantalizingly smooth as I could muster, “If you would just excuse me, I wouldn't mind helping you with some _extra credit_... If you catch my meaning, Sensei.”

        My hot breath just barely grazing his already red ear, I could hear his thick swallow as I narrowed my eyes at the chalkboard behind him in disgust. I pulled away giving him a confident wink and smile as he nodded numbly. I walked calmly out of the classroom, calling out to the student who went silent in curious wonder, “Toodles~”

        Closing the door, I could hear the loud out cries of unfairness. I laughed, but still felt nauseous from knowing that was actually effective against that teacher. Moving quickly, I made haste to try to catch up to Kaneda. I had just caught sight of his shirt disappearing behind the sliding door of the infirmary, and I grit my teeth. Almost purposely dragging my feet in disdain; I have _no desire_ to know just how he woos her into doing favors.

I lean against the thin wall and listen in, since the door is left wide open. It seems I had caught them mid-conversation:

“What's that?” The student nurse mumbles curiously.

“That's what I want you to find out,” Kaneda responds easily.

“Um…,” She starts uneasily. I already feel a gross twist of dead fill me from her tone. She starts once again, her voice a bit soft, “I think you should know.”

“I think I might be pregnant.”

        My heart practically plummets into the pits of stomach at this sudden news. Kaneda had been stupid enough to have unprotected sex. He must've been doing it for a promise of a bigger delivery of capsles. All I can think is ‘what a fucking _bastard_.' Though it's his response that really threw me off, “Hey, great! Can I watch you have it?”

        I shove off the wall hastily. All of me is on fire, I'm pissed at both of them for being fools, but I actually feel pity for this girl who will most likely have to care for this baby all alone, or get an abortion. I hope she wouldn't choose abortion. If it is here and has a chance of getting here, let it come to the world. I felt my eyes get misty but I blinked it away frustratedly, stomping back to the classroom using a shortcut. I was just about eight feet away from the door when I noticed a very familiar face coming toward me from the opposite direction. My jaw went slack before I felt a relieved and ecstatic smile flash over my features, running at full speed before hugging him tightly, " _Tetsuo!?_ ”

        I pushed myself away from him as he laughed awkwardly, giving him a glance over: he had a bandage securely wrapped around his head and was wearing an olive green jacket, some tight jeans, and his black biker boots. I unintentionally began to rapid-fire questions at him:

“Are you okay? Are you sure you're allowed out of the hospital? What hospital were you even at?!” I paused to breathe, my throat clenching as I tried to keep calm, “We tried to find where you were at but no-one had a single clue…”

“(Nickname)...” Tetsuo started softly when tears finally spilled over the bottom lids of my (eye color) irises. Tetsuo started rubbing at my tears gently as I hiccupped through my tears, “D-do you know how w-worried you had us? Had m-me?”

        Tetsuo remained quiet until he noticed that my sobs were calming down, giving a soft smile that washed over a familiar sense of peace, he almost seemed different, “Don't cry, (Nickname). I didn't mean to worry you…”

He trailed off, then took my hand in his like we had done since we were small, guiding me into the classroom with him, “C’mon. Don't wanna keep everyone waiting.”

        When we got inside, everyone from our group looked at Tetsuo in shock, before their faces were awashed with such happiness. Everyone jumped out of their seats and surrounded Tetsuo, no-one noticing me right away until Yamagata and Kaisuke pushed though the kids to get to Testuo. Yamagata ruffled Tetsuo’s short, black spiky hair, much to the teen’s displeasure, before his eyes caught my now red-rimmed eyes.

“Damn, (Name). I think this is the first time I've seen you actually look girly,” Yamagata smiles teasingly, making me scoff playfully through my stuffy nose.

“I'm sure it won't be the last time you see me _look_ girly, Yamagata.”

“I think it's nice that Tetsuo has someone who'll cry tears of joy when he comes back from the hospital, almost makes me jealous!” Kaisuke laughs, joining in the conversation.

“Oh! I should go tell Kaneda the good news!” Kaisuke declares, sprinting instantly out into the hall to hunt for the gang leader. I just giggle at his excitement, before deciding to return to my seat and watch from afar as everyone crowds Tetsuo. They all really missed him. However, as I watch the crowds around Tetsuo, I feel this strange sense of loss. Almost as if someday there will be a time when I won't see Tetsuo’s sweet smile and watch him laugh with us. The thought made my heart squeeze painfully for a moment, making the choice that I should make the best of the time we have then, if I could.

I rise once more from my seat and join the chattering group hanging around Tetsuo.


	7. Street Rumble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *PREVIOUSLY*  
>       Awakening bewildered and sluggish, (Name) finds herself in Kaneda's apartment in the early hours of the morning. Sneaking out of his home with little more than some mumbled thanks, she raced out into the streets to make her way to her place. Pressure of a mother whom feels like a wandering spirit, and from neighbors who tire of helping her siblings, she continues her morning caring for her siblings. Sitting in their first class period, (Name) notices Kaneda fiddling with an unfamiliar-looking pill capsule, examining it curiously. Kaneda brought the pill to the Student Nurse, leaving (Name) only able to learn about the strange pill by tailing him. She got there after the fact of depositing the pill, instead discovering the fact that Kaneda had gotten her pregnant, (Name) rushes off as not to be caught by Kaneda. On her way back to the classroom, Tetsuo appears before her. The rest of the gang swarms him upon entry, and the moment is bittersweet as (Name) feels an uncomfortable premonition wash over her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Edited* Sorry, this chapter is a bit of a pain to format on AO3, and subsequently, Quotev.... Anyways, happy reading!

Soon enough, Kaneda shoved through the wall of students with Kaisuke in tow, his voice ringing with joyous disbelief, “Tetsuo!!”

       Tetsuo echoed his name in turn with equal enthusiasm. Kaneda then pressed questions yet unanswered onto Tetsuo, but his voice was lost under the excited cheers of members declaring celebration. It didn’t seem to bother him, as he cheered with them. Tetsuo, being the slightly more rule-abiding, innocent one of us, mentioned a bit nervously, “I’m supposed to go to the hospital at seven…”   
“Forget it!” Yamagata hollers, wanting to have Tetsuo stick around as long as possible.  
“Screw the hospital—We have better drugs!”  
“No shit!”

        I glanced at the poor teacher, who tried to behave as if his students were just going to listen to him, when he met my eyes and gave me a sleazy smile. I smirked and taunted him by making a childish face, signalling that he got played, and now I had some pretty decent blackmail. I hummed as I followed after the excited crowd of boys, sliding the door behind me shut.  
        We rushed down to the lot where all of our bikes sat waiting for us, Kaneda splitting off announcing that he was making a pick-up, and that he’ll meet us down there in a few. Just before heading out into the lot, I jumped in realization, and hastily tugged on Tetsuo’s sleeve, “Hey, wait a minute Tetsuo!”  
He hummed as he came to a stop, the rest of the boys going ahead to their bikes.

“Don’t you wanna see Kaori? Y’know, before you have to go back to the hospital again?”  
Tetsuo only shook his head.

He glanced to the floor for a moment before explaining, “I just have a feeling that tonight’s not a good night to go see her.”

       I looked at him a little skeptical of his answer, trying to see if he had any other reason he would refuse before shaking my head. I scolded myself internally, sighing, “Maybe next time. She would be really excited to see you though.”

Tetsuo smiled bashfully at that.

x~*[A K I R A]*~x

We all sat, most of us all ready to rumble over to Harukiya, while the others were getting ready. There was a murmur of impatience over the purring of engines, “Still no sign of Kaneda?”  
“He went to get the drugs.”  
“Can’t have a party without the party favors…”  
“You ain’t wrong.”

I pulled off my helmet and cut off my engine, shouting to the group, “I’ll go see what’s taking him so long…”

        I dashed away and slowed down to a jog once I reached the infirmary, listening to see if he was still there or if I had missed him on the way up. I caught the voice of the student nurse, her voice oozing with curious wonder, “Where did that stuff you gave me earlier _come_ from?”

“Did you find out what it is?” Kaneda responds, ignoring her question for his own.

“Part of it...,” She sighed, leaning back in the office chair, I crept closer so that I could see, “But it contained certain elements that defied analysis, at least by our equipment.”

“So, don’t keep me in suspense,” Kaneda warned, dangling the bag of capsules as if to remind her of his time constraint, “The gang is still waiting for their stuff, you know?”

“Compared to what was in your pill, those are candy. One grain is five times as powerful as the entire contents of that bag.”  
Kaneda’s jaw was practically on the floor, as he gaped, “What?”

“If someone took the whole thing he’d go mad,” She paused, practically horrified at the realization, “... Or die.”  
Kaneda merely hummed, a small smirk curling the edges of his lips.

“One more thing…,” She says, pulling a rules and regulations book into her lap, flipping through the pages until her finger lands on the desired section, “It’s controlled under regulation sixty-seven.”  
“What’s that mean?”

“It’s a schedule one drug—The public doesn’t have any access to it,” She reads, grabbing some of her shoulder-length, raven hair to pull it back, “Possession by a private citizen would be illegitimate.”

Kaneda’s expression nearly made me choke on a laugh that threatened to escape my throat, correcting her, “Are you sure you don’t mean… _‘Illegal’_?”

        The student nurse only blushed bashfully as she brought a hand to cover her lips. Kaneda swore softly as he faced away from her, hands shoved in his pockets. The student nurse once again tries to ask how the capsule came into his possession, but she was ignored in favor of his own thoughts once again, “Figures…”

“A monster sedative…,” He remarked firmly, as he made for the door of the infirmary, “for a _monster_.”

        I hastily jumped to my feet and rushed around the corner of the hallway, jogging in place for a minute to look sweaty enough that they would have thought that I checked a few other places for him, and listened for the door to open and slide closed. Once I heard him take a few steps, I dashed full speed around the corner, huffing and puffing for air. Kaneda stopped just in front of me with a curious expression, as I bent over to take some exaggerated breaths.   
“(Name)? What’re you doing?”

“Well, the rest of the boys are getting antsy with how long you were taking. I also thought I should check a few other places, just in case you were on your way down before checking here,” I smiled sheepishly, before groaning, “Remind me to _never_ run up and down all of the stairs in the school again!”

Kaneda only laughed, nudging me in the shoulder with his own once I stood full height, “Well, I guess we’d better get a move on then. I’d be surprised if they didn’t head out before us.”

x~*[A K I R A]*~x

        The minute we arrived to the lot, some of the capsules were passed around, and the boys decided to get fancy with it. Tossing them up and catching them in their mouths, small tricks to impress. I of course, slipped the capsule given to me into someone’s pocket and used my own placebo. Kaneda was already dressed in his full body red biker suit by the time everyone had revved their engines to life once more, the drugs having given them a boost of energy.

“Let’s go!!” Kaneda ordered, followed by the subordinative cheers of the group members and my own. Tetsuo stared at the capsule for a moment before popping it into his mouth. Yamagata leaned towards him, purring slyly as Tetsuo checked out his new wheels, “Like the new bike?”  
“It’s great. Where’d you get it?”  
“Oh… Someone left it on the street.”

Tetsuo smirked as he slipped on his tinted bike goggles, “Thought so.”

        Everyone’s bike pushed and shoved as they went full throttle, pouring out and over the stairs that lead up to the school, startling two pedestrians going about their own business as the boys cheered and made noises like beasts. The sound of engines made a harmonious buzz of vibrating noise, warning everyone that trouble was on its way as we took to the streets.

x~*[A K I R A]*~x

        The same old scene, the nightlife of Neo-Tokyo was unfolded before him as he gazed over the sea of skyscrapers and businesses, their light scaring off the stars that secretly perch in the black, inky curtain above. Colonel stood with his hands held firmly behind his back, as he listened to the old scientist debrief him.

“His name is Tetsuo Shima…,” His raspy, airy voice began, “He attends the Eighth District Vocational Training School. In the accident Takashi caused the night he escaped, on the highway in the Old City… and he was hurt…”

The scientist shuffled around a few more papers on the desk he sat at, then continued, “Because it occurred there, we brought him here. Something turned up in the electro-encephalogram.”  
“We checked it, and rechecked it. There’s a pattern in his brain waves I’ve never encountered before.”

“How old is he?” The Colonel asked gruffly, eyes still staring out into the cityscape.  
“Fifteen years, seven months.”

“What are the chances of him developing?” His voice queried in a low rumble again, finally turning to face the scientist.  
“There’s _always_ a chance. In one case, a subject awakened when he was eighteen.”

The Colonel began to pace, “He should be here by now! It’s already eight o’clock!”  
“Is he being tailed?” The scientist quipped, an innocent curiosity lining his words as he took the papers into a stack neatly in his hands.  
“ _Naturally!!_ ”  
“Perhaps you should contact your operatives?”  
“ _I’m doing that now!_ ”

x~*[A K I R A]*~x

        We wreaked havoc through the thickly populated streets, a furious wind whipping up at civilians from the startling speeds we raced. Another member and I curved to a stop in concern as Kaneda came to a stop, rolling closure to ask Kaneda, “What’s up?”  
“Where’s Tetsuo?”

        He had barely finished the question when Tetsuo himself on his brand new bike rocketed by us, confidently flashing Kaneda a prideful smirk.  
“You got out of there quick!” Kaneda admitted, glancing to the crowd of stopped cars in traffic, “Well…”

“Look’s like everybody’s here…,” Yamagata mumbled, observing the chaos while Kaneda grinned and let out a short string of chuckles.

Kaneda kicked his bike back into action and was about to shout something, but I decided to steal his thunder, bellowing “ _It’s showtime!!_ ”

I flew as fast as I could from the gang in an unannounced drag race, hearing Kaneda shout after me with a disgruntled, “Hey!?”

        I laughed heartily, feeling all the negative feelings that were festering within me peeling away as if the speeding breezes were stripping them off one by one. I felt so free, so breathless as I fluidly maneuvered my bike with the rest of the boys following closely behind. I was gaining on Tetsuo and I drifted easily to his pace, soaring around large arcing turns in-time with him and I laughed some more. Tetsuo’s face also had a large blissful grin, he probably felt so at home finally being able to ride again. However, the fun just _had_ to be spoiled. Racing behind us was a cop car, its lights flashing erratically as they spoke into the loudspeaker, “This is the Police! You are in violation of the law! _Pull over!!_ ”  
“You wanna bust us, you have to work for it!”

“This is car #375. A band of motorcyclists driving with extreme recklessness is heading south on Highway 14. Request other vehicles take position to intercept…”

“ _Everybody split up!!_ ” Kaneda ordered over the roar of motors and wind.

“Right!!” Tetsuo and I replied back.

“ _Little punks!_ ”

“ _NOW!!_ ”

        The gang criss-crossed through each other as we separated into two groups, startling the cop car as it visibly jerked from the driver applying the brakes in surprise for a moment. The car then screeched to a sudden halt, unsure which group to follow

x~*[A K I R A]*~x

        Tetsuo watched as the busy lights of the crowd disappeared, completely on his own as he sped into the more quiet outskirts. He laughed freely to himself, “This is great!”  
        However, the smile quickly left his face as he saw three unfamiliar bikes appear behind him from the tight alleyways. They circled behind him, giving him no place to turn back two as the slowly gained on him. He called out in discontent, “Who the hell are you guys?!”

        Without providing any answers, one of the bikers swung a heavy cord with nuts and bolts looped around it against the visor of his bike, causing him to flinch involuntarily and lean too far. His front wheel gave a shrill wail from the angle and together toppled over onto the asphalt. The three unknown bastard cheered as they parked their bikes, the same guy with the cord coming over and swiftly swinging the cord into Tetsuo’s face with a heavy ‘ _glang_ ’. His broken bike goggles flew off to the side, a fresh open wound on his forehead oozed blood lazily over his skin. The unknown bikers flipped him onto his back roughly, pinning his left arm by the shoulder with his foot as he leaned over him. The assailant chuckles darkly, amused by their cornered prey, “Samatter, kid, didn’t anybody tell you it’s bad manners to go playin’ on someone else’s turf?”

x~*[A K I R A]*~x

        I twisted and turned through smaller streets, ensuring that the fuzz would be way too turned-around to catch up to me. I howled, reveling in the thrill of the chase and the adrenaline rush as I continued at top speed through the dingy, quiet outskirts. I felt my smile twist into a small frown of confusion.

_I don’t exactly recognize this place…_

        Making a sharp turn around another corner and slowing down to a crawl to get my bearings, I see a brawl in the distance, though it looks more like a mugging with how the person is getting ganged up on by three other guys. I was about to ignore it and take a turn just short of the commotion, as to not get involved, when I noticed the banged-up bike. That’s the same one that Tetsuo had, and trying to catch a glimpse of who was over there, I saw the white head bandages in the same place that Tetsuo had his. I gnashed my teeth together and I felt my blood boil, going back to full speed I curved closely on the right side of the group and hooked the center one around the throat with the crook of my arm. Poor fool had stood straight at the wrong moment. I clenched my arm furiously around his windpipe as I slid my bike to a grind stop, having spun it around to block the road with my bike. The fool clawed at my arm, some of the desperate clawing making me twitch at the pain, but other than that I only flexed my arm harder. His gasps of air filled the silence as I stared them down, I noticed them gulp harshly and I only gave them an expressionless heavy stare as their buddy slumped over unconscious. I let his body fall limply to hard ground with sick ‘ _thud_ ’.

        The other two were shocked stiff, until i revved my engine loudly. They sprung forward, cords swinging and fists raised rushing right for me. From where he lay, Tetsuo shouted, “ _No, (Name)!! RUN!!_ " I only smiled.

        Swinging my bike around so that I was aimed right between them I tried to gain as much speed as I could, getting closer and closer to them with every moment. At the very last moment, before they passed my front wheel, I swung my legs out. My feet launched into their stomachs with such force, I could hear the air get knocked from their lungs. Under my feet, the sickening crack of their ribs pulsed against my own flesh as they tumbled below out from under my feet. Drifting my bike around once again, I cut off my engine and waltzed over to where they squirmed on the tar. Looking at their scuffed up helmets, they were revealed to be the Clowns. I crossed my arms and spat on them.   
“You assholes have no _fucking idea_ how much I want to splatter your bodies over the street, do you?”

         They wheezed and quivered, their unrelenting glares burning into mine but I could feel their resolve shrinking. I was about to make a move to kick them roughly in the gut once again when I heard the rumbling of more bikes, I didn't dare turn my back on these morons on the ground so I let it come closer, listening. Tetsuo had managed to sit up from the ground, commenting on the bikes as they came closer, “I think that's Kaneda…”   
I sighed in relief, finally allowing myself to turn away from the boys. I had made it only a few paces towards Tetsuo, planning on checking his wounds and treat them, suddenly I felt my head snap back by a harsh grip on my (length) hair. I let out a shrieking string of curses, my attacker's other arm coming around my neck, allowing me to feel the cold, thin steel of a switchblade pressing against my jugular. I chuckled dryly, “How was the nap?”  
“Shut up, bitch! We'll see if they're just as willing to save you as you were for that weak punk over there.”

         I whistled with disinterest, shoving my hands in my body suit pockets and crossing one leg over the other, causing me to lean all my weight against the kid behind me. I felt his armed hand back away from my neck just a bit, seemingly comforted by the fact I wasn't going to run away. As the boys drew closer, I could hear Kaneda’s surprised exclaims of realization when he saw Tetsuo and I. The two whom had finally recovered enough to walk, sneakily made their way to their bikes, their tails practically between their legs.  
         Kaneda and crew continued ever closer, the boy whom had me at knife-point _bravely_ held his ground, though even I could feel his trembling. Even as Kaneda was lined up to take him out, he stood, but I think he had the idea that Kaneda would stop before ramming into the both of us. What an idiot… When Kaneda had come within three feet of us, he mouthed “ _duck_ ” and I smiled, leaning more onto my “captor,” then swiftly slipping between the space of his arm and body. My body twisted on instinct, twisting around to swipe my leg into his own unsteady ones, knocking him over and into Kaneda’s path.

         Kaneda swung out his right foot, kicking the poor sod’s face at breakneck speed. A few teeth and little rivers of blood trailed from the Clown member’s bruised face and onto the asphalt where he stayed. The rest of the group chased the two runaways hungrily, as their motors faded into the distance. I stood, casually brushing off some dirt, when Tetsuo rushed over and poured concerned questions onto my ears. Kaneda’s engine soon silenced, and all I can hear is his footsteps coming closer as Tetsuo lightly scolds me. Soon I was pulled roughly by my wrist, coming face to face with the gang leader himself. We shared a staring contest and I quirked a brow when he heaved out a long sigh.  
“You _moron_! You could have actually killed yourself!” Kaneda’s voice reverberated around us, his eyes on fire, though there was a splash of concern mixed with them.

“Kaneda, I could get killed at any moment just by riding my bike,” I stated pointedly, then glanced to Tetsuo, “Remember when Tetsuo nearly killed himself trying not to harm Takashi?”

“Of course!” He answered, before unleashing an aggravated groan. I was just about to pull away from him before he tightened his grip on my wrist and completely enveloped me in his arms.  
“Wha-! Hey! Kaneda?!”  
“Just shut up! You two are gonna give me a heart attack someday!”

“You…,” I heard Tetsuo’s voice behind me hiss venomously, “You're a dead man, scumbag.”


	8. Chance Encounters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another one too long to paste into the chapter summary section

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *PREVIOUSLY*  
>         Tetsuo, finally able to see his friends, was surrounded by smiling, relieved faces. He enjoyed small talk with them, including talk about what he had missed while he was away. Soon enough, Kaisuke returned to their classroom with an ecstatic Kaneda in tow. Everyone convinced Tetsuo to stay out with them, rather than going back to the hospital for his cerfew, and so the gang got ready to head out on a bike ride. As everyone waited in the lot, Kaneda went to get the usual baggie of capsules from the Student Nurse. In order to ease the restlessness of the gang, (Name) rushes to the infirmary to see what was taking Kaneda so long—instead, (Name) learns about the dangerous details surrounding the pill Kaneda had snagged yesterday. Heavily restricted from the public; that single capsule alone could drive a person to the edge of insanity...  
> Or death.
> 
>         When the gang finally left the school grounds, they went on a wild ride through Neo-Tokyo. They caused trouble, eventually forcing the gang to split ways to evade the police; (Name) heading off with Tetsuo and one half of the gang, and Kaneda splitting with the other half. As (Name) was driving through the quieter streets, Tetsuo got ganged up on by some of the Clown gang. (Name) used her wits and brawling skill to trick and render the gang members useless, however it was not enough in the end. (Name) taken as a willing hostage in front of Kaneda, risked her life to combo the Clown member with Kaneda. The charismatic teen was beside himself with the anxious worry that flooded through him, and seeing (Name) safe in front of him this time only reminded him of her near-drowning last night. He held her against him tightly in frustration as he chided:  
> "You two are going to give me a heart attack!"
> 
> But there is yet to be peace tonight....

       I hastily pushed away from Kaneda to see what Tetsuo was on about, finding him circling threateningly around the rousing Clown member that was left behind. His eyes molten with a blazing fury and his jaw set tight: he was absolutely _livid_. He grabbed the kid by the scruff of his biker suit, dragging his body as he fought with futile efforts, finally throwing his back against the wall of the building closest. The kid’s helmet gleamed under the bright lights of the streetlamp, his face already littered with scrapes and bruises. Tetsuo gave him only mere moments before throwing a heavy fist straight into his face, some of the blood that dribbled from the corners of Tetsuo’s mouth flecking onto nearby surfaces with tiny droplets. Kaneda and I stood back a bit as Tetsuo pummeled the Clown, hearing the returning motors of our gang.  
“Why’d you come back?” Kaneda queried sternly.  
“We lost ‘em.”

       Tetsuo continued his onslaught, the Clown reduced to a shivering, limp body as he crumpled onto the ground. Though, the state of his enemy’s body did not even falter Tetsuo’s attack. Kaneda grit his teeth for a moment, trying to not cause Tetsuo’s anger to flare any higher. However, both of us knew that the Clown was on death’s doorstep, but I don’t know if it was Kaneda’s worry of murder charges on us or pity of the poor guy getting beaten into next year.

“Knock it off,” Kaneda’s voice finally ordered, “He’s had enough.”  
“Not while he’s still breathing!”  
“ _Are you trying to kill him?!_ ” Kaneda screeched, obviously worried about Tetsuo’s mental state.

“ _Yes!_ ”  
        His eyes were wild, borderlining near insanity. His raven black hair was curly and fluffed-out from the sweat that took the edge off the spiked style he typically had it in; blood still leaked from the cut on his forehead. Kaneda launched his hand out to put Tetsuo’s wrist in a vice grip—if only to momentarily stop him from actually committing murder. I crept cautiously closer, subconsciously at first, wondering what was driving Tetsuo like this. Tetsuo ripped his arm away from Kaneda’s hold, giving Kaneda his undivided, fury-filled attention:  
“I don’t take orders from you,” He sneered.

“Say what?” Kaneda challenged.

“I said I don’t take orders from you, Kaneda,” He repeated easily, “You got that?”

        I walked to their side standing in-between like a mediator, firmly taking charge, “Enough. It’s late, and I’m gonna make sure that the poor fool Tetsuo whipped will survive so that we’re not sent to jail.”

        The two only scoffed and looked away from each other, unlike previous when they were sizing each other up. I had only just walked passed them towards my bike to grab the first-aid kit, when I heard Tetsuo call out, “I wonder whose side you’ll take, (Name).”

        I turned to look into Tetsuo’s eyes which had simmered down just a little, as a small curious smile graced his lips, his hands now shoved into his jacket pockets making him more aloof than he let on. I continued about my check-up on the punching-bag Clown member with the meaning of that question haunting my deepest thoughts.

x~*[A K I R A]*~x

        As the jeep pulled up to the sidewalk of the Eighth District Vocational Training School, the Colonel was practically already out the door and making his way up the steps. His long strides carrying him up far faster than his lackeys which chased him with worry.  
“You needn’t go in person, sir! Wait in the car, and we’ll… I’ll—”

        But he couldn’t care that his presence would startle the masses and cause many tiny eyed stares to be prickling his skin, he just wanted to see it with his own eyes and get to the heart of the matter in person.

x~*[A K I R A]*~x

        The noise of the cafeteria was rattling with the general complaints and yells of fellow students, all clamoring and squished tightly together on the benches that hugged the thin, long lunch tables. Tetsuo sat before me, glowering at his tray of food as he picked at it. It was clear to me that he was absorbing every word that the gang mumbled at the other end of the table:  
“ _Tetsuo did_ what?”  
“Really?"  
“I thought Kaneda was gonna murder him…”  
“Where’d Tetsuo get so brave all of a sudden?”

I cleared my throat to gain his attention, “So, how are your wounds?”

His eyes flicked to my eyes before diverting back to his food, his voice almost disinterested, “They’re fine. Healed pretty quick since you treated them.”

He paused, “My head’s got a bit longer to heal, I guess…”

“Well, I’m sure last night’s events didn’t help that very much,” I mumbled playfully, the sarcasm muffled around my sipping of my orange juice carton. Tetsuo’s sour expression softened into a small grin as he huffed from my words, though his face just as subtly stiffened into its previous guarded appearance. Suddenly, a voice boomed over the roar of the cafeteria, “ _Tetsuo Shima! Is Tetsuo Shima here?_ ”

        Mr. Jawhead’s towering physique pushed its way to where we sat, Tetsuo’s face showing a more humorous display of surprise as Jawhead pulled him up to his feet and put a friendly arm around his shoulder. Many shouts of displeasure were echoed across the lunchroom directed at Jawhead, although Jawhead seemed to ignore it for the most part, speaking to Tetsuo about his presence being requested at the Principal’s office. My skin prickled at the thought of them giving Tetsuo a pounding, like they had given the boys last time when Tetsuo had nearly died. Sadly, all I could do was speculate while I sat drawing patterns on the cold surface of the metal table, word of Tetsuo’s attack on the Clown member still being shared in the crowd of students.

I rose suddenly, deciding to go see what was happening with Kaneda, rather than sit and mope with my thoughts.  
I stalked out of the cafeteria unnoticed.

x~*[A K I R A]*~x

        Kaneda stood outside of the infirmary, leaning forward against the more western style door as he tried to charm the student nurse. I leaned on the wall on the right of the door, sighing through my nose at his pleas.

“...Please...?” He tried, “I’m asking nicely here! Won’t you—!!”

But the door slammed on him by the pure force of the student nurse tugging it shut, only flaring Kaneda’s temper, he spat insults at the now closed door, “Dumb slut!”

He trudged away grumpily as he glanced sidelong at the infirmary door, grumbling cluelessly, “I wonder what’s eating her...?”

“Maybe she’s having mood swings from being pregnant, though I dunno how early that appears when you are with child,” I supplied as I strolled beside him, trying to get him to be reasonable. He provided a disgruntled, confused face, “How’d you know she’s pregnant?”

I shrugged with a mischievous grin, “News goes around fast when there’s tons of people to treat in this place.”

       As we continued down the hall, two adults clad in nice black suits, a familiar hulking muscular man, and Tetsuo turned the corner ahead of us and were walking our way. Tetsuo walked obediently in tow, defending himself, “Hey! I was gonna go to the hospital like you guys told me… Don’t you trust me?”

As soon as our and the Colonel’s eyes locked onto each other, he and Kaneda screeched at the same moment with disbelief, “ _YOU AGAIN?!_ ”

       Without missing a beat, Kaneda twisted around—I was almost rooted in place by my own surprise before my brain finally kicked into gear, dashing like mad to follow him—and ran like a bat out of hell, leaving behind an anxious Colonel, and three confused bystanders. Colonel shouted orders two the two black-dressed men, while I wondered what their purpose at the school was and rushed through the halls. Kaneda executed a last-minute risky play, crashing shoulder-first through the windows on the second floor that faced towards the courtyard.  
“ _Kaneda?! Maybe **warn** me next time!_ ” I screeched in fury as I unwillingly followed his lead through the shattered window.

        I landed nimbly to the concrete ground and we immediately raced to where our bikes were parked, jumping on while Colonel’s lackeys tried to reach us. The Colonel’s voice thundered, “Bring them back! Don’t fail me!!”

“Too late! Better luck next time, Skinhead!” Kaneda jeered.  
“Game over, boys~!” I sang, our taunts frustrating the lackeys as we sped through their attempt to stop us, and away from the school.

The Colonel growled, “Miserable little upstarts…”

x~*[A K I R A}*~x

        The dusk settled over the Neo-Tokyo skyscrapers, their neon lights brightening the streets as if the sun never left. Cool breezes sailed past Ryu as he gazed at the empty black sky. He leaned against the stone wall of the walkway, his voice soft as he echoed, “The capsule…?”

        The plump, weasel-like man beside him hummed in confirmation. He was balding with a noticeable bologna ring, wrinkly, and speckled with liver spots. He had a visible set of obtrusive buck teeth that made him resemble a rat. He leaned against the wall to give their conversation more privacy, “Precisely. For whatever reason, the opposition has gone to some lengths trying to recover it, Ryu.”

“That kid and his friend made off with it in all the confusion,” Ryu admitted blandly.  
“Do you know either of their identities?”  
“No, neither of them didn’t seem worth bothering with at the time.”

“It’s imperative that we locate them…,” He paused for a moment, allowing Ryu to attempt to interject, and then continued calmly, “Before the other side does.”

         The weasel-like man shifted the topic, swiftly, “And what have we heard about the new Olympic stadium they’re building in the Old City, Ryu?”  
“Construction’s already underway, Nezu.”

“My sources indicate that the site will become a secret military installation after the games,” Nezu supplied sternly.

“We’ve already given the civil authorities enough prompting. All we need now is something to start a public outcry.”  
“Like an incident?”  
“Yes. A _major_ incident!”

x~*[A K I R A]*~x

         It was dark, pitch black sky loomed above us. Accompanied with only the light of our bikes, we were silent as we sped through Old City. Glancing up, my eye caught the large sign which read: _Tokyo 2031… Official site of the Olympic Games. No unauthorized vehicles allowed_. I paid no mind and followed Kaneda beyond.

x~*[A K I R A]*~x

“ _You incompetent imbeciles!!!_ ” The Colonel’s voice resounded obstreperously as he quaked behind his desk in fuming rage. The two men swat as they bowed in apology profusely before him, nervousness shaking their very being at the Colonel’s state.  
“Yessir!”  
“We’re sorry sir!”

“ _Not as sorry as you’ll be if you fail me again!_ ” He roared again, frustration rolling off of him in waves. He took a deep breath as the familiar scientist opened the door of the Colonel’s office, calling out calmly, “Excuse me…”

“Now the two of you, _get out!_ ”

       As the two agents shuffled out hastily, the scientist filled their space in the middle of the room. The agents bowing again in apology before the door closed, leaving the scientist to ask curiously, “What was that all about?”

“Nothing that concerns you,” The Colonel replied gruffly.

“What have you done with…,” The Colonel paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts before speaking, “Tetsuo Shima, isn’t that his name?”

“I’ve given him a sedative,” The scientist began, excitement lighting his countenance, “When he wakes up tomorrow, we can begin intensive examinations.”  
“When may I expect your report?”  
“It will take about three weeks to compile all the data.”

Suddenly, an explosion was set off in the distance behind the Colonel, the rumble of the shockwaves causing him to jump to his feet and gaze out to the scene.  
“What the hell?!”

The scientist appeared beside him, peering through the glass, “It came from the Old City.”  
“Could it have been the _Olympic Site?_ ” The Colonel asked.

Neither of them could provide a sure answer. 

x~*[A K I R A]*~x

        The construction site was ablaze before us. Screams of the men inside echoed into the night as they tried to escort workers to safety. Kaneda sat stoically on his bike while I leaned against my own, one foot crossed over the other and my arms over my chest. I frowned, _Why’d he make us park under this streetlamp? Wouldn’t this just draw attention to us?_ It didn’t take long for a shadowy figure to emerge from the site that was clearly not a worker on the site as she raced in our direction. When she got about ten feet from us, she finally faced forwards, realizing that we sat before her. A surprised noise escaped her lips as a smug smirk teased Kaneda’s lips. I groaned.  
“Kaneda, do you have some sort of _mental tracker_ on Kei?”

        He glared at me briefly, the smugness never leaving his voice as his gaze returned to Kei, “I thought this might be your doing."  
She looked silly, somehow looking even more shocked than before.

I spoke calmly, kind of feeling a sense of respect for her as I smiled cooly, “I don’t think we can let it go unsaid.”

“Whoever you are, you put on a good show,” Kaneda filled in, the smirk growing ever wider.

Suddenly, two men were sprinting behind Kei, calling out hastily, “Kei, what are you waiting for?! We have to go!!”

Both were unfamiliar; one wore a paper-boy flat cap and a long plain jacket, and the other with the chin flaps connected to his hat with a similar plain jacket.

“Who’s that?! Guards—?!” The Flat Cap man spoke, clearly suspicious of Kaneda and I, his hand reaching inside his jacket for—pressumingly—a gun.  
“Wait! They’re not one of them!” Kei declared.  
“You know them?”  
“Sort of.”

“This is no time for talk!!” Chin Flap shrieked as he glared behind them, making sure that they were still trouble-free.  
“You’re right. Let’s go,” Kei began to walk past us, choosing to go past Kaneda.

“Not so fast!!” Flat Cap ordered, pulling out the gun that he had stored inside his jacket, aiming it at Kaneda, “They can identify us.”

“I told you to leave them alone!” Kei screeched, again vouching for us, then turning to us and screaming, “Get out of here!!”

“No way. I’m not gettin’ left behind this time!” Kaneda smiled like a child, his stubbornness getting the better of him, and I sighed irritatedly.

“And I clearly can’t leave this idiot without someone to watch over him,” I combed a hand through my hair from my forehead and back, shifting the bangs out of my eyes. Kei gave me an annoyed look, before her comrade Flat Cap spoke up once again, “We’ll have to take them with us.”  
“What?”  
“NO!”  
“Hey!! Are you crazy?!”

Kaneda laughs victoriously and I just shake my head and scratch the back of my neck sheepishly.

“But the bikes stay here,” Flat Cap added.

“Huh?! You can’t ask me to abandon my bike!” Kaneda whines childishly.

“Kaneda, if you don’t this guy can just shoot us on the spot,” I warn him, already by their side and committed to this adventure whether I want to or not. Once Kaneda finally parted with his bike, we descended down a manhole into the sewers. The heavy lid making a loud thud as Kaneda closed it, and the stench of the sewage was potent.

“Kei can learn how to handle the boy.”

Kaneda threw a lecherous look at Kei at the wording before he blinked owlishly, “What about (Name)?”

“She behaves better than you, so she won’t cause as much trouble,” Chin Flap scoffed.

Kaneda sulked, before longingly staring up the lit ladder, “I hope my bike will be safe up there.”  
“Should be. This is a restricted area,” Mr. Unknown offered.  
“But the last few days, there’s been a lot of traffic here.”  
“Will you shut up?!”

        I hummed as I walked beside Kei, still troubled by the luck that Kaneda has to stumble upon the one girl he’s chased so relentlessly. I was beginning to feel strangely restless, however I kept my mouth shut as to not trouble the stern Chin Flap guy too much.

The echoing of our footsteps reverberated and danced all around us as we marched on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inquiry: Should I include a snippet of like a "Last time on AKIRA" thing at the start of each chapter for a re-cap, or is it better without it? If people think that a re-cap at the start of each chapter is a good idea, I'll update each chapter so that it has one. Let me know in the comments, please and thank you! ^w^
> 
> **EDITED 7/03/18 & 07/09/18**  
> So I made a kinda sorta big oopsie and I was trying to get this edit up earlier, but when I submitted the edit on the first try.... It... Well... Didn't really go through lmao~  
> Anyways, the errors have been corrected and if you see anymore, please don't hesitate to let me know!


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